♦     MAY  26 


^X95I7       MONTGOMERY,  N.Y. 

.i).M7 
63A3 


5'.a6.  // 


^^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^ 


Division 


Section »..s-.'».l    \   I 


>e^^^^^^ 


MONTGOMERY.  N.T, 


'^ME     I^ELEBKATION 


— OF   THK- 


ONE  HUNDRED  AND  EIFTIETH 


^.:Kr  ::2^i^^jEK  ^.^isikr5 


oifa5llK3l<. 


nuifiMri^iiia^-^-^ffsitin^K^g'll^ 


J 


M&Wim!'m&mmm'Wf  Q)mjki^&m  €'©•>  NtY". 


Montgomery,  N.  Y. 

'I'HK^'S'PAXriARD'"  I'RFSS  I'mXT. 
liKSTKH  WlXFIKl,D.   Prop. 

lss-_>. 


'feK£S£NT   ■■'Organization. 


COHPOUATE  TlTLl-; 


GERMAN    REFORMED    DUTCH    CHURCH   OF    MONTGOMERY,    N.  Y. 


Pastor:— FERDINAND  S.  SCIIENCK. 


Robert  Ashby, 


CONSISTURV  : 

Elder  ts, 

MlLTOX  BOOKSTAVER, 

Damel  Molld, 


DeacoJis, 
William  Bookstaver,  Johx  C  Mould, 

AiJNER  Shafer. 


EBEXEZER  VAX  Alst, 


William  McNeal, 


C/e/-^,— Robert  Ashby. 


Tnasarer.—B.  B.  JoHXSTO^^. 


great  CONSISTORY  : 

Elders, 

llEKRY  Bergen.        Alaxsox  Bookstaver,        Rexwick  Gillespie, 

Jacob  Y.  ^Shafer,        Jesse  F.  Mould,        Daniel  Van  Alst, 

Christopher  P.  Mould,    [Samuel  Augustus  Comfort, 

John  Mould,        Albert  Crans. 

De(U:ons, 
William  P.  Decker,    Charles  J.  Van  AlsTjWickamRockafellow 
llEXRY  Sease,  Alonzo  Comfort,.         JosEi  h  C  Mould, 

James  Russel  Rumph,  John  D.  Shafer, 
Matthew  Row,  John  D.  Mould, 

Damel  Carvey,  J.  Theron  Sease, 

William  S.  Mould.      John  Bookstaver. 


Alex.  LaFountaix, 
Andrew  H.  Smiley, 
Jacob  B.  Youxg  blood, 
Ralph  Mowbray. 


JOXATHAX  M.  ^[ORRISOX, 

Choir: 
Mr.  B.  B.  Johxston,— Teiicr  and  Leader, 
Miss  Mixxie  L.  Johxstox,— Soprano, 
Mrs.  Joseph  C.  Mould,— Alto, 
Mr.  Joseph  C*T  .Mould,— Bus.s, 
Miss  Georgie  B.  Gillespie,— Organist. 

>SVr?'fo7j.— George  E.  Bookstavi-r. 


THE  BRICK  ciiriirii; 


#NTKOI)UCTION. 

Extrncts  from  tln^  Jliuutcs  of  Cou.s/Nfojj/. 

Sept.  23d,  1SS2.—'' Jiesohed,  Tluit  the  loOtli  aiinivcrsury 
of  tlie  organization  of  tlie  Churcli  be  celebrated  on  Oct.  23d; 
that  llev.  Mr.  Brett  be  invited  to  make  an  addre.ss,  an. I  that 
the  pastor  read  tlie  liistory  of  tlie  Cliiurli  and  take  cliarge  of 
the  serviees." 

Xov.  15th,  1882. — "■Rcsulced,  That  the  papers  coinK'cted 
with  the  150th  Anniver.sary  be  published  in  pamphlet  form." 

At  the  Prayer  Meeting  on  the  Tlinrsday  evening  preced- 
ing the  anniversary,  the  pastor  re(iu«'sted  those  i)resent  to  ai*t 
as  Ji  committee  to  adorn  the  Clinrch  with  flowers,  an<l  appoint- 
ed Mr.  Daniel  Van  Alst,  chairman. 

The  late  Dr.  Van  Zandt  wrote  the  liistory  of  tlie  Ciiurch  in 
1871,  and  read  it  at  the  re-opening  of  the  Church  after  the  r«'- 
pairs  made  in  that  year.  At  the  recjuest  of  the  pastor  and  the 
consistory,  the  family  cheerfnlly  fnrnished  them  the  manu- 
script. The  larger  portion  was  read  at  the  anniversary  service, 
and  it  is  here  iniblished  in  full. 


THE    CELEBKATiON. 


?T*ME   vCelebkation. 

The  sevvices  in  the  celebration  of  the  one  liun  lie<l  an«l 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  tlie  oro-aiiization  of  the  Church,  -were  liehl 
on  Monday,  October  23(1,  1882,  at  2  o'clock,  p.  ni.  The  day  was 
fair,  and  a  hirge  audien(!e  fiUed  the  Church.  The  committee 
on  flowers,  and  tlieir  friends,  had  athirned  tlie  Church  with 
b(?auty.  l>ack  of  the  ])ul])it,  surrouiKb'd  by  festoons,  \v;is  the 
inscription  in  tlowers:  "One  Hundred  and  Fifty  Years."  The 
l)ulpit  was  covered  witli  flowers,  banked  up  from  the  floor,  and 
flanked  with  lare  [)lants.  The  window  benches  were  tilled  with 
choice  plants  and  flowers. 

After  a  fine  opening  ])iece  by  the  choir,  the  congregation 
standing,  sung  the  Doxology,  "Praise  God  from  whom  all  bless- 
ings flow."  The  84th  Psalm  was  then  read,  and  the  Eev.  J.  T. 
Demarest,  D.  ]).,  of  New  Prospect,  led  in  i)rayer. 

After  the  singing  by  the  choir  of  the  hymn,  "I  love  Thy 
King<lom,  Lord,"  the  history  of  the  Church  was  read  by  the 
pastor.  Both  the  ancient  history  by  Dr.  Van  Zandt,  and  the 
modern  history  from  1858  by  the  pastor  were  received  witli 
great  interest.  The  congregation  then  sung  the  hymn,  "Ail 
Hail  the  Power  of  Jesus  Xame." 

An  address  was  then  delivered  by  Tiev.  C.  Brett,  the  otily 
living  ex-Pastor.  It  was  one  of  tender  reminiscence  and  bright 
hopes,  and  touched  all  hearts. 

Rev.  ^{.  V.  Schoonmaker,  I).  1).,  of  Waldcn,  led  in  the 
closing  prayer.  The  congregation  sung  the  hymn,  "Our  Ccxl, 
our  help  in  ages  past."  and  Avere  dismissed  with  the  benedic- 
tion by  Rev.  Mi'.  BK'tt.  The  services  throughout  were  deeply 
iiitcvcsting  and  imiii'cssivc. 


'^<Mi:     -^^^EOPLL     AND     TK£IH     >6hURCM. 


IJy  Rev.  A.  B.  Van  Zamlt,  1).  I).  LI.  I). 

AVi'  sluill  Jippic'ciatc  better  tlie  character  of  the  early  set- 
tlers in  this  section  of  the  Wallkill  ^'alley  by  a  brief  reference 
to  their  origin  and  the  causes  which  led  them  to  seek  for  them- 
selves a  home  in  what  was  then  a  wilderness.  It  was  not  the 
restless  spirit  of  adventure  or  the  love  of  iiidn  wliicdi,  in  later 
years,  has  so  rapidly  tilled  uj)  the  Western  States  and  Terri- 
tories, which  brouQ-ht  these  pioneers  from  their  ancestral  honu^s 
to  this  distant  continent,  an<l  to  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  and 
the  Wallkill.  A  stroiiii'er  incentive  w;is  needed  to  i»eople  these 
shoics,  and  it  was  lound  in  the  lose  of  relii^ious  lilx-ity,  inten- 
silieil  by  the  bitter  ])ersecutions  of  ])ai)al  intolerance.  This, 
indeed,  cannot  l»e  said  of  the  earliest  emii^ration,  for  Ilolhmd 
ever  since  the  successful  termination  of  lier  jtrotrac-ted  strn^;- 
ole  with  Si)ain,  has  been  the  home  of  toleration  and  the  asylum 
of  the  o])pressed.  "In  1009  when  Hendrick  Hudson  first  land- 
ed on  the  Island  of  Maidiatas,  free  schools  and  freedom  of  re- 
ligious creeds  ha«l  long  been  estal>lished  and  undisi)uted  things 
in  the  Fatherland."  IJeekmairs  oration  "Founders  of  New 
York."  Hut  when  her  comnu'rcial  enter|)rise  had  o])ened  this 
country  to  emigi-ation  and  planted  a  colony  here,  the  multitude 
of  refugees  from  IJritain,  I' ranee  and  (Jermany,  who  swarmed  in 
lier  crowded  cities  and  towns,  were  not  slow  toasail  themselves 
of  the  opportninty. 

The  I'liritaiis  I'ound  their  first  icl'iige  in  Holland,  and  it 
was  trom  Kotterdam  the  Mas  How  t'i- sailed  when  she  lironght  her 
l)assengers  to  IMymouth  Rock  in  Ki'Jd,  sexcn  years  after  the 
Dutch  Fast  India  Comi)any  had  established  a  trading  post  at 
Fort  Orange,  now  the  City  of  Albany.  'I'he  i)erseciite(l  and  ex- 
iled Huguenots  of  l'''rance,  and  I'alal  inates  of  ( Jeniiaiix  follow - 
eil  afti'r  these  hard v  ad\"ent ur<'rs.     .\iid  so  w  hen  this  fertile  Wall- 


THE  PEOPLE   AND   THEIR   CHUliCH. 


kill  Valley  eaiiie  to  be  settled,  its  population  eoiitaiiied  repre- 
sentatives of  diftevent  nationalities.  The  Diiteli,  who  were  the 
liioneers  of  the  State,  had  established" a  trading'  i)ost  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  on  the  site  of  the  present  village  of  Kondont 
as  early  as  161-i,  six  years  before  the  rilgrims  landed  on  Plyiuoutli 
Eock.  This  first  settlement  was  broken  up  by  Indian  hostili- 
ties, and  a  second  one  begun  between  1630  and  104U  shared  the 
same  fate.  But  before  1660  settlers  had  again  located  at  Kings- 
ton and  its  vicinity.  In  tlie  last  mentioned  year  a  treaty  had 
been  concluded  with  the  liulians  on  the  faith  of  which  the  peo- 
ple indulged  in  a  sense  of  security,  which  the  event  proved  to 
be  delusive — and  fatally  so  to  many  of  their  number. 

The  current  tradition  is  that  the  Valley  of  the  Wallkill  was 
first  discovered  and  opened  to  settlement  by  a  i)arty  in  pursuit 
of  a  predatory  l)and  of  Indians  who  had  suddenly  nuide  a  mur- 
derous raid  upon  the  settlement  at  Ksopus,  killing  some  and 
carrying  captive  others.  Following  up  the  Uondout  to  its 
junction  with  the  Wallkill,  and  then  following  the  latter  in  a 
southerly  direction,  they  are  sai<l  to  have  come  upon  the  camp  of 
the  savages  near  the  junction  of  the  Shawangunk  with  the  Wall- 
kill;  thus  opening  to  their  view  the  fertile  plains  of  New  Paltz, 
and  the  whole  stretch  of  the  valley  southward  whenever  cir- 
cumstances requiied,  or  would  ])ermit  its  occupation.  Thus  in 
due  time  the  stream  of  emigration  set  in  from  the  >;ortli,  and 
from  Kingston  to  Montgomery  the  fiist  settlers  were  Holland- 
ers, Huguenots  and  (rermans. 

From  the  direction  ol'  New  Windsor  and  (loslien  came  the 
liinglish,  Scotch  and  I'rotestant  Irisij,  who  found  for  themselves 
homes  in  Hamptonburgh,  Wallkill,  and  the  rich  but  rugged 
hills  of  Crawford.  These  representatives  of  s.'veral  nationali- 
ties of  kindred  faith  and  character,  combined  to  form  a  popula- 
tion whitih  has  always  been  distinguished  for  its  intelligence, 
enterprise,  industry  and  regard  for  the  institutions  of  religion. 
It  was  tiieir  devotion  to  tiu'  principles  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  which  originally  brought  them  here  and  in  every  gen- 
eration, and  through  all  political  changes  they  have  ever  main- 
tained a  marked  fidelity  to  the  traditions  of  the  Fathers. 


THE   BRICK   CHriKir. 


TIk'  iiunuMliate  settlement  of  wliicli  tiiis  C'lmicli  in;i>  be  re- 
i^iinlcd  as  tlie  nucleus  and  center,  was  comiKised  luincipally  of 
(lernians.  They  were  a  lianly,  industrious  and  fru-^al  race, 
eoniin^- originally  I'roni  a  (diinate  as  ri;;<>rous  as  our  own.  Tliey 
were  i)repared  to  endure  its  severity,  and  witli  their  niLTLiol 
constitutions  and  stalwart  frames,  they  were  the  \  ery  men  to 
transform  a  wilderness  intii  a  jiarden. 

It  is  inipossilde  now  to  fix  the  exact  date  of  the  first  set- 
tleiueiit  in  this  iiiiiiiedi;ite  vi«'inity.  It  seems  to  have  been  tlie 
liractice  at  that  early  day  for  settlers  to  locate  where  they 
jdeased,  and  cominencc  their  improvements,  and  if  satisfied 
with  their  location,  afterwards  to  purchase  a  title  to  the  land 
from  the  patentees.  Hence  the  dates  on  deeds  and  other  docu- 
njents  are  an  uncertain  i^uide,  and  enable  us  only  to  a])i)i(»x- 
imate  the  tinu'  when  any  settlement  was  first  made.  Thus  wo 
find  that  in  1735  a  bill  was  pas.sed  by  the  colonial  assembly 
naturalizing',  amon^ others,  Matys  Milsbach,  llendrick  Crist, 
Stephanus  Crist,  Laurens  Crist,  IMiili]*  Milsbach,  Jacob  Sinse- 
bai^h.  .lacob  lioochstalx'r,  and  dohannes  don^-  liloet;  and  tliat 
same  year  (1735)  daeob  Hoot  hstaber,  .Johannes  J()n<>-  Bloet  and 
Frederick  Sinsebach  pundiased  of  William  Sharpus,  of  thecitv 
of  New  York,  a  tract  of  SOO  acics  ot  land  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Wallkill.  Hut  there  is  i^ood  reason  to  believe  that  the  land 
cleared  up  by  these  individuals  was  the  first  in  this  iiiunediatc! 
vicinity  that  was  disrobed  of  its  native  forest. 

Y»'t  this  CliuKdi  was  ori;ani/ed  in  1732,  and  .lohannes  doui^ 
Hloet  was  the  first  eider,  and  dacolt  Uoochstabcr  was  the  first 
deacon,  tliou<,di  these  individuals  wer<'  not  naturalized  ami  did 
not  mak<'  their  first  i>urchase  of  land  until  1735— three  vears 
later.  From  whi(di  fact  it  appears  that  the  settlement  Avas 
formed  a  considerable  time  before  the  land  was  i>oiio|it.  And 
from  the  further  fact  that  the  Church  was  ori,'anized  with  six- 
teen  nieinl>ers  in  173'J,  it  appears  that  at  that  time  the  settle- 
ment must  have  been  consideral)ly  extended  and  ot"  several 
years  <luraf  ion.  We  know  that  dohannes  Miller,  located  on  the 
east  bank  of  the  Wallkill  as  early  as  17'J7,  on  what  was  called 
the  "5,(M»n  acre  patent,"  which  was  ;^raiited    in    I7-J-J       And   the 


THE   PEOPLE   AND   THEIR   CHURCH.  9 


probabilities  are  that  tlie  settlement  on  the  west  bank  was  be- 
<^\\n  at  even  an  earlier  day,  and  we  think  Ave  shall  not  be  far 
from  the  mark  if  we  date  the  beginning-  of  the  settlement  of 
those  who  were  tlie  founders  of  this  Church  as  early  as  1725. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  tliat  these  pioneers  had  main- 
tained the  public  worship  of  God  and  erected  their  first  hum- 
ble temple  before  their  formal  organization  into  a  church  in 
1732.  But  even  tliat  date  is  the  earliest  authentic  record  of 
any  cliurch  organization  on  the  line  of  the  Wallkill  between 
New  Paltz  and  Goshen.  We  do  not  claim  to  be  the  "Mother 
Church"  in  the  sense  that  the  others  around  have  been  derived 
from  us  though  in  respect  to  some  of  them  this  is  largely  true. 
But  with  the  single  exce])tion  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  viUage  of  Goshen,  we  claim  to  be  the  oldest  Church  in  the 
present  County  of  Orange.  I  have  said  already  that  the  first 
elder  of  this  Church  was  Johannes  Jong  Bloet,  and  the  first 
deacon  was  Jacob  Boochstaber,  It  may  be  interesting  to  you 
also  to  know  the  names  of  the  sixteen  members  witli  whom  tlie 
Church  was  organized.  They  are  all  familiar  names,  and  with 
one  or  two  exceptions  are  common  among  us  to  this  day.  The 
record  in  low  Dutch  reads  as  follows:  — 

"  On  confession  were  received  to  the  fellowship  of  this 
Church,  1732."— .Alichael  Krans,  M^irgriet  Maul,  Cathrina  Maul, 
Johannes  Krans,  Jacob  Sinsebach,  Magdalena  Sinsebach,  Benira 
Xewkerk,  Aitje  JNIenges,  wife  of  8tephanus  Christ,  Elizabeth 
Menges,  wife  of  Lawrens  Christ,  Gertrout  Jong  Bloet,  Fredrick 
Weller,  Anna  INIargretta  Kochin,  Maria  Gertrout  Stemer,  wife 
of  Philip  Melsbach,  Maria  Cathrina  Stemer,  Elizabeth  Stemer, 
Geertje  Klearwater,  wife  of  Johannes  Newkerk. 

The  first  recorded  baptisms  are  as  follows:     Anno  1734 — 

April  17th. 

C34-     1  />  (  Steplianus  Christ, 

Stephanus,  son  of <   .     ^    ..    ,,  ' 

^  '  (  Annatje  Menges, 

T.  .-.1.    .„.,  ^+-  I  Ptiilippus  Melsbach, 

.Jacob,  son  ot <  ^.     .^\,     ,        ,  ^,,     ' 

(  Jiaria  Gertrout  Stemer, 

T  I  „-.     ^+-         *♦  !  Christian  Eboltz, 

Johannes,  son  ot <  ^.     .     ,,,.     ,,,    .  ' 

'  [  ]\Iana  Eliz  Christ, 

V  4--      1        14^.,.^+'  j  Ciiristoftel  Maui, 

Annaatie,  daughter  ot <    .  t   ,.         o       • 

•'  '         "^  (  Anna  Junana  Searing. 


'ini:  i!i;i(i\  <  iii  u<'H. 


The  fiist  niMiiiiiu'c  record  is  (Litcd  Octolx-r  23(1,  1734,  iiiul 
is  that  (•f.loli;iiiiM's  Kraiis  ;iii(l  ICli/.abctli  Klcaiwatcr.  Tims  we 
have  cairicil  you  l>acU  as  lar  as  tlic  fiist  i-ccords  can  do  it,  to 
the  heiciimiii^  of  tlie  settlcineiit  in  this  vicinity  and  th«*  oiuan- 
i/ation  oftliis  Chnndi.  Dut  to  ai>i)reciati'  tiie  character  of  tlie 
settlers,  and  their  snrroundin^s,  soiiietliiiin-  more  is  necessary 
than  a  mere  recital  of  dates  and  names.  We  must  (-arry  our- 
selves l)a(d<  in  imau;ination  to  the  time  and  circumstances  in 
whi<-li  tliey  lived.  It  is  oidy  about  l.')0  years  ayo;  and  such  a 
])eriod  would  l»e  Init  a  luiet Cpisode  in  the  history  of  the  <'ities 
and  towns  of  the  ohl  world,  and  be  marked,  i>{'rhai>s,  by  but  a 
few  noticeable  (dian^es.  iJut  here  a  century  and  a  iialf  have 
been  loni,^  enou<;h  to  chariii-e  the  whole  face  of  the  country,  and 
leave  but  few  mementoes  behind  of  the  almost  unbroken  wil- 
di'rness  with  whicdi  the  i»eriod  be<;an.  To  the  Ivist,  the  Colden 
si'ttlement  was  abont  the  only  cultivated  spot  between  the 
W'allkill  ami  tlu'  Hudson.  To  the  South,  Goslion  had  become 
a  thriviuLi  hamlet.  To  the  West,  Comfort's  Hills  were  tin' 
boundaiy  of  jtopulatioM ;  and  to  the  North,  wheiu-e  these  set- 
tlers had  come,  t!ie  I'altz  was  their  nearest iiei;nhborhood.  The, 
earlii'st  of  them  ariiviui;-  tow. iris  the  beginning;-  of  winter,  and 
with  no  tim.'  to  construct  even  a  loi^  cabin  for  their  slielter,  are 
said  to  have  burrowed  in  the  earth,  and  in  an  excavation  in  the 
suiniN  side  of  the  i^ravtdly  hill,  next,  east  from  the  site  of  this 
Cliurcdi,  was  born  that  winter,  lOlizabeth,  daughter  of  dacob 
T»o(Mdistabei',  and  Anna  .Maria  Menkes.  But  soon  the  forests 
beiran  to  fall  and  the  earth  disrobed  of  its  ancient  covering' and 
o|»ene(|  to  the  sunlight,  be^au  to  yitdd  its  i;-ratel"ul  return  to  the 
labors  ol"  the  husbandman,  lint  no  sooner  had  they  found  hab- 
itations for  t hemsidves  in  the  lou;  cabins  of  the  pioneer,  than 
they  bei^an  also  to  seidv  a  h(Uisc  foi'  the  Lord,  and  their  tirst 
saiictuaiy  is  said  to  have  been  like  their  own  d\vellin>;s — con- 
structed of  unhewn  loirs.  This  Ituildin-;  was  situated  on  the 
old  road  runniuii  thiou-ih  the  south-east  corner  ol'  the  i>;rave 
yard,  and  across  the  me;idi>w  of  Dr.  Smith,  and  Ixdnnd  his  [)res- 
ent  buildinics,  until  it  came  out  som-where  on  the  iState  road. 

The  ("liurch  was  within  the   present    ^raveyarl    eiudosure. 


THE  PEOPLE   AND   THEIR   CHURCH.  11 


and  near  its  eastern  line.  Mr.  Eager,  in  his  history  of  Orange 
County,  gives  it  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Henry  Crist  of  the  hxst 
generation,  that  this  building  was  entered  from  the  outside  by 
a  bidder.  Mr.  Crist  woubl  be  good  authority,  though  he  prob- 
ably never  saw  the  rude  old  sanctuary— not  having  been  born- 
until  1760,  about  the  time  that  the  second  edifice  was  erected. 
But  as  this  second  edifice  was  further  west,  nearly  on  the  site 
of  the  present  one,  it  may  be  that  the  old  log  structure  was 
left  standing,  and  that  he  saw  it  in  his  early  days.  At  any  rate 
it  is  not  unreasonable  that  tlie  method  of  entrance  mentioned 
should  have  been  adopted  for  the  safety  of  the  congregation 
when  assembled  for  worship,  and  as  a  protection  from  any  sud- 
den Indian  assaults.  The  probability  is  that  the  building  was 
constructeil  with  a  double  purpose,  to  S3rve  as  a  place  of  wor- 
ship, and  also  as  a  rallying  point  and  fort  in  case  of  attack, 
and  Mr.  Crist  in  his  early  life  would  often  hear  the  story  of 
those  days  of  hardship  and  of  danger. 

But  just  here  is  a  noticeable  fact  confirming  wh"^  I  have  said 
about  the  habit  of  the  people  in  taking  up  unoccupied  land 
whenever  they  needed  it,  and  buying  a  title  to  it  afterwards. 
This  first  sanctuary  was  built  upon  land  whicli  was  not  owned 
by  the  congregation,  or  l)y  any  meml)er  of  it  until  many  years 
afterwards.  The  deed  of  Ballard  Beckford,  conveying  the  four 
acres  upon  which  the  old  log  church  stood,  and  upon  which  the 
present  e<lifice  stands,  was  not  executed  until  1758,  and  in  tlie 
description  of  the  plot  it  is  designated  as  "laying  a  little  above 
the  mill  commonly  known  and  called  by  the  name  of  IMenges 
Mill,  where  the  High  Dutch  Cliurch  now  stands."  The  people 
were  preparing  to  erect  their  second  and  more  convenient  ed- 
ifice, and  deemed  it  prudent  to  secure  the  title.  The  fee  simple 
Avas  a  gift  from  Col.  Beckford — or  as  the  deed  expresses  it,  "for 
and  in  consideration  of  the  natural  love  and  aftVction  v^iiich  I 
bear  to  the  High  Dutch  congregation  in  the  precinct  of  the 
Wallkill,  Ulster  County,  in  the  Province  of  IsTew  York."  The 
money  to  pay  the  ex]>ense&»of  drawing  and  recording  this  deed 
was  raised  by  a  subscription,  a  copy  of  which  is  on  record,  and 
it  is  a  roll  of  honor— not  on  account  of  the  amount  subscribed. 


12 


THE    lUMCIC    ("III  Kf'H. 


but  Ix'cnusc  it  Wiis  sliiircd  iilikc  l».v  ;ill.  It  bears  58  names,  each 
of  wliicli  stands  opijosifc  to  a  siilis!"iii)tion  of  "0£,  O.s',  (>'/,"  iiiak- 
iiiii- ill  all  It',  !».v,  (>'/,  stciliiii;-.  The  rci  t  ilicatc  adniittini^  the 
deed  to  record  is  sii;iied  Cad\valla(U'r  Col(b'ii,  "one  of  his  maj- 
esty's counsel  i'or  the  I'rovine<' of  Xew  Y(uk,"   and  the    record 

itry  by  "Chark\s  Clinton,  Deputy  Clerk  of  Ulster  County." 
Aeeompanyin;;-  tliis  (b'e(l  is  a  surv<\V()r's  ma])  of  a  hiter  date, 
r«'presentin,u'  tlie  situation  of  tlie  Church  as  on  its  present  site, 
an<l  the  (dd  ])arsoiia^-e  and  barn  in  the  rear  of  it.  Tliis  was 
drawn  when  tiie  ohl  deeds  were  recorded  in  the  (Merk's  OHiee 
of  ( )ran^('  County. 

Of  the  second  (diurch  edihce,  1  can  ,nive  you  but  little  in- 
lormatittn.  There  is  intthiuii'  on  record  concernini;-  it  except  an 
entry  on  the  liy  leaf  of  tlie  old  book  in  the  hand  writing  of  the 
late  Dr.  JiCe,  which  states  that  it  "was  a  frame  church  erected 
about  ITdO."  The  careful  accuracy  ol"])r.  Lee  warrants  us  in 
l)elieving  that  his  information,  wlu'rever  he  obtained  it,  was 
substantially  correct.  If  so  the  (dd  loii;  churidi  inust  have  serv- 
ed at  least  one  generation,  and  inuuediatidy  around  .where  it 
stood  in  now  almost  obliterated  graves,  surrounded  by  other 
generations  who  have  followed  them,  sleej)  tho.se  brave  and 
hardy  sons  and  daughters  of  toil  who  oiicc  worshii)ped  in  its 
rude  but  consecrated  walls— consecrated  by  the  i)iety  which 
reared  with  willing  hearts  and  hands  this  sanctuary  in  the 
Avilderne.s.s,  and  by  (he  manifested  lucscnce  and  blessing  of 
(bid  accepting  their  lowly  altar  and  their  humble  worsliip. 

The  frame  (diuridi  (d' whi(di  I  have  s])oken  as  sncceedin«>- 
the  first  about  17(>()  was  surmounted  by  a  IxdlVy  and  a  spire, 
and  i'or  the  lirst  time  was  heard  over  thesi'  hills  and  plains  the 
W(dcome  tones  of  the  (diui(di-going  bell.  That  sanu'  b;dl,  as  I 
am  infonned,  as  (dear  toiu'd  as  ever,  is  now  doing  duty  in  the 
cui»oIa  of  the  District  S(diool  House  at  Searsville.  , 

In  this  IVanw  clinrch,  wliicli  was  erected  b(d'ore  a  pastor 
was  settled,  ministeicd  with  great  success  Dominie  (Iherardus 
Co(d<,  for  several  years  a  stated  sui)i)ly,  then  Mr.  Kearn,  the 
first  i»astor,  then  .Mi-.  \'an  Nest,  then  Mr.  Fneligh,  until  1804, 
when  it  \\as  taken  down  and  rejdaced  b\    the   "r,i\cl<   Clunndi  " 


THE   PEOPLE   AND   THEIR   CHURCH.  13 

which  preceded  the  present  edifice.  Meantime  other  changes 
and  improvements  had  taken  place,  indicatin«>-  the  growing- 
wealth  and  liberality  of  the  people. 

Previons  to  the  year  1784,  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature, 
chnrch  property  conld  be  held  only  by  a  Board  of  Trustees  ap- 
pointed by  the  congregation  and  distinct  from  the  consistories, 
and  Avho  were  the  body  corporate.  But  in  1784  this  act  was 
amended  so  ;is  to  permit  consistories  themselves  to  be  the 
Trustees  and  corporate  body.  Tliis  act  as  amended  was  passed 
for  tlie  relief  of  the  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Churches  by 
whose  constitution  the  temporalities  of  the  congregation  as 
well  its  its  spiritual  interests  are  vested  in  the  consistory. 

Accordingly  in  1792  the  then  existing  Trustees  of  this 
Church,  by  a  formal  instrument  duly  subscribed,  sworn,  certi- 
lied  and  recorded  in  the  ottice  of  the  County  Clerk,  renounced 
the  oftlce  of  Trustees,  and  the  consistory  by  a  like  instrument 
according  to  the  provisions  of  the  statute,  assumed  the  title 
and  became  tlie  body  corporate,  and  so  have  remained  to  this 
day.  This  change  was  made  because  of  the  greater  inconven- 
ience and  expense  of  the  former  method  and  the  greater  security 
of  the  present.  ^Moreover  tlie  congregation  were  now  about  to 
extend  their  temporalities.  They  foresaw  the  necessity  of  bet- 
ter accommodation  and  i)rovision  for  their  Pastor,  and  wisely 
judged  that  they  ought  to  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity 
while  land  was  comparatively  chea]). 

Accordingly  they  purchased  in  1796  of  James  Johnston,  of 
the  City  of  London,  the  present  parsonage  farm,  together  with 
the  Avood  lot  (sold  some  years  ago)  for  "six  hundred  and  forty 
pounds  lawful  money  of  the  State  of  New  York."  The  sub- 
scription lists  to  raise  this  money  are  still  extant.  The  largest 
amount  of  any  one  subscription  is  £10,  of  which  amount  there 
are  several,  and  so  on  down  to  -is.  Tlie  deed  bears  date  1796, 
but  the  subscriptions  were  not  raised  until  1798. 

Following  closely  upon  this  large  eft'ort  m  purchasing  the 
farm,  came  the  question  o^[\  new  Church.  The  spirit  of  the 
people  was  up,  aiul  they  were  devising  liberal  things  for  those 
davs  when  monev  was  scarce  and  harder  t  >  be  won   than   it   is 


14  THE  BRICK  ciirRni. 


now.  So  five  years  after  ]iayinj;-  for  tlie  farm  tliey  entered  into 
a  eontraet  witli  T>enjaiiiin  Sears  and  Jolin  I).  Smith  to  bnild  a 
new  Briek  Clinreli.  Tlie  new  biiildiiiy'  was  to  ho  58  feet  in 
leno-th  and  46  feet  in  widtb,  and  to  be  com]ilete(l  by  the  first 
<lay  of  June,  1804.  Tlie  contractor  was  to  fnrnisli  all  the  ma- 
terial except  the  brick,  for  providini;-  which  the  consistory  de- 
duct $750.  These  brick  were  made  and  burned  on  the  land  of 
Mr.  John  Bookstaver,  just  -we.st  of  the  Church  lot.  It  was  also 
stipulated  that  "the  bell  spire,  weather  cock  and  ball"  on  the 
old  chnrch  slionld  be  used  on  the  new  one,  and  so  much  other 
of  the  material  in  the  old  church  mio-ht  be  used  as  should  be 
approved  by  a  committee;  whilst  it  was  expressly  stipulated 
that  the  old  church  "should  not  be  broken  down  until  the  new 
one  was  fit  to  hold  worshij)  m."  The  consistory  who  signed 
this  contract  were  Moses  Frelioh,  Henry  Smith,  John  Sease, 
David  Crist,  ITenry  Crist,  Jacob  Smith,  Jacob  ^likels  ajid  Jacob 
T.  l>ookstaver.  The  contract  was  signed  on  the  22d  of  Janu- 
ary, 1803,  and  on  the  12th  day  of  December  of  the  same  year, 
the  ]>ews  in  the  new  church  were  sold  at  public  vendue,  and 
realized  the  sum  of  $3,925,  and  so  the  Cliurch  Wiis  built  and 
])aid  foi-  within  less  than  a  year. 

The  next  improvement,  six  yeais  al'terwards,  in  1809,  was 
the  building- of  a  new  ])arsonao(\  and  the  ju'csent  i)arsonac;e 
lionse,  as  it  was  before  the  alterations  made  in  18(»0,  was  then 
erected.  The  contract  was  with  Tlionias  and  Daniel  ]\IcXeal, 
and  stipulated  that  the  house  and  ]<itelien  wei-e  to  ho  built  "in 
the  form  of  Dr.  J()se]>h  A\  helan's  house,"  with  ceitain  s])eeified 
difi'erences  in  the  arran^-ement,  for  !^1,5^0,  and  the  iise  of  what- 
ever snitable  material  conld  be  taken  from  the  old  house.  On 
the  back  of  this  contract  ^Ir.  Freli«:;h  has  entered  his  account 
of  moneys  reeeive<l  foi-  bnildiui;-  the  luuise,  showing  an  excess 
of  $48  over  and  abo\-e  the  aiuouut  ai^reed  to  b(»  ])ai(l  the  con- 
tractors. Thus  the  spirit  of  imjirovement  went  (»n,  steadily 
kee])inii-  pace  with  the  ])roi:;i"essof  tlu^  connnunity  and  i)roini)tly 
meetiuii-  the  demands  of  the  oc(Msion  as  they  arose. 

In  1822  several  hundred  dollars  were  si)ent  foi-  a  ikmv  ]>u1- 
pit  and  paintinic  and  repairs.     In  1834  the   Chur/h    was   a^ain 


THE   PEOPLE   AND   TUEIR   CHURCH.  15 


extensively  repaired;  a  new  steeple  was  erected  and  a  new  bell 
put  into  it,  and  tlie  Churcli  was  enlarged  by  an  alteration  in 
the  front  of  it.  Again  in  1844  other  .4:epair8  were  found  nec- 
essary, and  were  made — the  people  always  coming  up  to  the 
work  with  a  commendable  liberality. 

At  length  in  1855  the  matter  of  again  enlarging-  and  repair- 
ing the  Church  began  to  be  seriously  entertained,  and  at  a 
meeting  in  September  of  that  year  the  consistory  resolved  to 
call  the  congregation  together  to  consider  the  subject.  The 
meeting  of  the  congregation  was  held  on  the  23d  of  October, 
and  resulted  in  recommendations  to  consistory  to  sell  the  "wood 
lot"  and  institute  inquiries  as  to  the  "practicability  and  cost  of 
enlarging  the  church  edifice."  Nothing  further  was  done  until 
April  1850,  when  application  was  made  for  an  order  of  court  to 
sell  the  wood  lot,  and  the  elder  Egbert  Millspaugh,  was  ap- 
pointed to  "employ  two  architects  to  examine  the  church  ed- 
ifice thoroughly  and  report  on  the  practicability  and  cost  of 
enlarging  it."  This  report  having  been  received,  a  special 
meeting  of  consistory  was  held  at  the  Church  on  the  12th  of 
March  1857,  to  consider  the  subject  of  erecting  a  new  church 
edifice,  and  after  due  deliberation  it  was  unanimously  resolved 
to  call  a  meeting  of  the  Great  Consistory  and  submit  the  sub- 
ject to  them  for  advice. 

The  Great  Consistory  met  on  the  first  Monday  in  April 
1857,  and  advised  the  erection  of  a  new  church  edifice,  and  that 
the  congregation  be  convened  to  consider  the  matter.  The 
congregation  met  on  the  18th  of  May  1857,  and  it  was  resolved 
to  have  a  new  Church,  and  a  committee  appointed  to  take  sub- 
scriptions. Finally,  in  September  of  the  same  year  the  con- 
sistory resolved  to  proceed  to  the  erection  of  the  new  Church, 
and  Henry  D.  Copley,  Egbert  Millspaugh,  and  David  Seaman 
were  appointed  a  building  committea»  On  the  18th  day  of 
March  1858,  the  contract  was  signed  with  James  G.  Crawford, 
of  Wallkill,  to  erect  the  building  according  to  plans  and  spec- 
ifications furnished  b^  the  architect,  Gewasse  Wheeler  of  New 
York,  for  the  sum  of  $12,541.  The  corner  stone  was  laid  with 
apiiropriate  services  on  the  first  day  of  July  of  the  same   year, 


Ifi  THE  ERiCK  cnuRrn. 


iind  tlie  c()mi)]i't('(l  Churcli  was  dedicated  the  ITtli  day  of 
Febniaiy  1859.  Tlie  Cliurcli  beino;  then  witliout  a  ]>astor,  Dr. 
Lee  liaving  died  in  September  1858,  it  Avas  not  without  some 
anxiety  that  the  pews  were  offered  for  sak'  not  lono-  after  tlie 
dedication.  But  tlie  sale  Avas  a  complete  success,  and  a  hand- 
some premium  above  the  valuation  was  realized.  The  people 
as  usual  coming  up  to  the  occasion  when  the  occasion  called 
for  their  energies. 

And  now  you  will  bear  with  nu' if  1  add  a  few  reliections 
pertinent  to  this  review: 

I.  The  true  Protestant  Reformed  faith  which  the  Fathers 
of  this  Church  and  community  brought  with  them  from  the  old 
world,  and  which  has  ever  been  maintained  and  taught  in  the 
four  successive  sanctuaries  which  have  stood  upon  these 
grounds,  is  proved  to  be  a  faith  in  which  men  can  afford  to  live 
and  die.  If  not,  like  the  faith  of  miracles,  able  to  remove 
mountains,  yet  as  a  system  of  truth  underlying  christian  char- 
acter, it  can  inspire  the  noblest  heroism  and  the  most  sublime 
devotion.  Anchoring  its  confidciu'C  in  the  i)uri)0S('S  and  pro- 
visions of  Divine  grace,  it  is  unappalled  amid  diltieulties  and 
dangers,  unfaltering  amid  hardships  and  privations,  and  un- 
siiakcu  by  the  i)lausibilitics  of  error.  It  was  the  I'aith  which 
formed  the  chaiactcr  of  those  who  braved  the  i)crils  of  the  sea, 
and  the  greater  perils  of  the  wilderness,  to  establish  the  princi- 
])k's  of  religious  liberty,  and  to  lay  the  foundations  in  toil  and 
suffering  of  the  institutions  and  blessings  which  we  enjoy.  It 
is  the  faith  in  which  this  Church  has  been  perpetuated  and 
grown  in  all  the  generations  of  the  ])ast;  and  it  is  just  as  true 
and  ctfective  to-day  as  it  ever  was,  for  it  is  the  faith  of  God's 
word  "which  liveth  and  abidcth  forever." 

IJ.  The  faith  and  i)iety  of  these  early  settlers  found  a 
striking  expression  in  their  zeal  for  the  house  of  God.  Taking 
the  Bible  for  their  guide,  they  had  learned  that  "God  loveth 
the  gates  of  Zion  more  than  all  the  dwellings  oi"  dacob,''  and 
whilst  yet  their  own  (hvelliiigs  were  scarcely  tenable,  they 
sought  also  a  "tlwelling  place  for  the  (iod  of  Jacob."  Without 
seeking  extraneous  aid  with  their  own  strong  hands,  tlicy  felled 


THE  TEOPLE   AND   THEIR   CHURCH.  17 


the  forest  and  piled  up  the  unhewn  logs  iu  rugged  shape  and 
symmetry  to  he  to  them  and  their's,  at  once  a  glory  and  defense 

and  a  glory  it  was— that  rude  structure  as  it   stood   there,    a 

sanctuary  in  the  wilderness  more  creditable  to  these  pioneers 
in  tlieir  poverty  than  even  this  spacious  and  elegant  edifice  is 
to  us  their  successors  in  our  abundance. 

III.  But  a  third  fact  deserves  our  notice  in  this  review. 
This  people  have  always  manifested  a  becoming  liberality  with 
willing  hearts  and  hands  to  keep  up  the  appointments  of  the 
sanctuary  on  a  scale  in  proi^ortion  to  their  own  pecuniary  and 
social  advancement  and  the  demands  of  the  times.  In  the 
erection  of  this  comfortable,  and  for  the  times  no  doubt  expen- 
sive frame  Church,  with  its  carved  work,  belfry,  bell  and  spire, 
the  second  generation  emulated  the  zeal  of  the  first.  And 
when  in  the  next  generation  this  was  found  "too  straight"  for 
the  increasing  population,  and  time  and  the  elements  had 
wrought  their  work  upon  it,  it  too  gave  place  to  the  old  "Brick 
Church,"  which,  when  it  was  built,  was  a  thing  to  be  talked 
about  in  all  this  country  side,  and  which  in  common  parlance 
has  given  a  name  to  the  congregation  ever  since.  The  present 
generation  witnessed  with  many  regrets  the  removal  of  the 
venerable  edifice  in  which  Freligh  and  Fonda  and  Lee  hacf  so 
long  and  successfully  administered  the  word  and  ordinances. 
But  necessity  seemed  to  require  it,  and  it  was  done.  This  pres- 
ent sanctuary,  now  renovated  and  beautified,  has  followed  it, 
and  is  just  the  carrying  out  of  the  same  spirit  of  progress  and 
improvement  which  has  marked  the  past.  It  is  not  out  of  pride 
or  ostentation  that  these  changes  are  made  from  time  to  time. 
A  Church  like  every  other  institution  must  keep  up  with  the 
progress  of  the  community  or  it  must  suffer;  and  we  would  be 
unworthy  successors  of  those  who  have  gone  before  us  if  with 
greater  means  we  had  less  enterprise  and  spirit  than  they. 

IV.  But  from  all  our  reminiscences  and  reviews  how  im- 
pressively comes  back  to  us  that  lesson,  written  upon  all  the 
works  of  man,  and  mol5t  legibly  of  all  written  upon  his  tomb: 
"One  generation  passeth  and  another  generation  cometh."  The 
siouificant  interrogatory  of  ancient  wisdom   is   equally   an   ad- 


18 


THE  BRICK   CIirRCH. 


monition  unto  lis.  "Your  Fathers,  where  are  they?  and  the 
Prophets,  do  they  live  forever?"  Yonder  tliey  lie,  pastors  and 
people,  the  fathers  with  the  children  and  children's  children,  to 
the  fourth  and  fifth  <>eneration.  All  that  now  live  will  soon  he 
numbered  with  the  past,  and  the  generation  following  will  gath- 
er up  the  story  of  our  lifetime,  and  as  we  shall  have  fulfilled 
our  obligations  to  God  and  His  Church,  will  write  the  record  of 
our  faith  or  folly. 


By  Key.  A.  B.JVao^Zaiidt,  D.D.  LL.  D. 

.  The  record  of  God's  dealings  Avitli  one  generation  is  liis  wit- 
ness to  anotlier.  The  constant  faith  of  tiie  Chnrcli  is  perpet- 
uated, and  personal  piety  is  advanced  by  a  recurrence  to  the 
memorials  and  traditions  of  the  past.  There  are  no  saint-days 
in  the  calendar  of  the  Protestant  Church,  but  the  records  of  the 
l)ast  are  always  instructive,  especially  if  they  are  the  records 
of  their  faith  and  piety  into  whose  labors  we  have  entered  and 
by  whose  zeal  and  devotion  we  haA^e  been  blessed.  They  be- 
ing dead,  yet  speak,  and  it  is  befitting  at  times  to  gather  up 
the  story  and  the  moral. 

Designing  therefore  some  further  illustrations  of  the  history 
of  this  Chiircli,  I  propose  to  consider  the  records  of  those  who 
as  Pastors  or  Supplies  have  ministered  to  this  people  and 
spolcen  to  them  the  word  of  Clod  from  the  organization  of  the 
Church  in  1732  to  the  beginning  of  tlie  present  pastorate. 
Tliough  the  period  covered  by  the  survey  is  extended,  yet  the 
roll  of  names  is  not  long,  and  I  regret  to  say  the  materials  for 
the  work  are  not  very  abundant.  From  whatever  source  I 
could,  and  with  no  small  expenditure  of  time  and  labor,  I  have 
gathered  up  and  arranged  the  statements  wliich  follow,  and 
which,  however  devoid  of  interest,  may  be  considered  as  re- 
liable. 

Beginning  then  Avith  tlie  beginning,  the  first  name  that 
<'laims  our  attention  is  that  of  Dominie  Georgius  AVilhelmus 
Mancius.  The  first  connection  of  this  distinguished  divine  with 
the  Church  of  IMontgomery,  is  found  in  the  fact  that  it  was  by 
his  official  act  that  it  was  organized  by  the  election  of  an  elder 
and  a  deacon  in  1732.  He  was  at  that  time  pastor  of  the  Church 
at  Kingston,  recently^ettled  there,  having  previously  exercised 
his  ministry  for  two  years  in  the  churches  of  Schaalenburgh 
and  Paramus.     To  the  south  of  Iviuustou,  and  in  the  Vallev  of 


20  THE   BRICK   CHURCH. 


tlio  Wiillkill  was  tlio  Clinicli  of  X(mv  Paltz,  orininally  FnMicli, 
and  coiisistiiii^  cliiefly  ol'  ]riit;nenot  dt'ScciHlaiits,  in  tliosi^  years 
siii)itIi(Ml  cliiefly  by  ministers  from  Kingston.  But  the  o-rowing 
iin|>(ntan('(M)f  tlie  German  S(^ttlement  still  fnrtlier  southward 
in  the  "Wallkill  Precinct"  no  doubt  early  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  zealous  youtliful  ])astor,  and  througli  his  instru- 
mentality this  Church  was  organized  within  the  first  year  of 
his  settU'ment  in  Kingston.  The  necessities  of  the  case  imi>os- 
ed  u])on  these  earlier  pastors,  more  of  missionary  work  in  the 
regions  lying  beyond  their  special  charges  than  falls  to  the 
lot  of  their  more  favored  successors.  If  we  may  judge  from  the 
handwi'iting  in  the  old  records,  Dominie  Mancius  continued  to 
N'isit  this  Church  at  stated  times  for  the  ordination  of  elders 
and  deacons,  and  for  other  ministerial  services  during  the 
whole  remaining  i)eriod  of  his  life.  Tliere  are  entries  ap]>ar- 
ently  in  his  hand-writing  of  ordinations  as  late  as  1761,  and  of 
baptisms  as  far  down  as  Mny  1762,  during  which  latter  year  he 
died. 

Dominie  ^lancius  api)ears  to  have  been  edncated  and  or- 
dained in  Holland,  and  his  allegiance  to  the  Classis  of  Amster- 
dam remained  unshaken  to  the  last,  and  brought  some  trouble 
to  his  later  years.  He  never  acknowle<lged  the  authority  of 
the  Coetus,  ami  after  the  division  in  that  body  in  1754  on  the 
proposition  to  form  itself  into  a  Classis,  he  nnited  with  those 
who  formed  the  assembly  or  i)arty  known  as  the  Conferentie. 
Some  forty  years  ago  his  reputation  as  a  ])reacher  was  covertly 
assaile(l  by  a  writer  in  the  ".Magazine  of  the  Ileformed  Dutch 
Church ."  r>nt  his  memory  was  triumphantly  vindicated  by  a  re- 
l)ly  from  the  late  Dr.  C  W.  liethune,  who  upon  the  best  evi- 
<lence  re])resents  him  as  "not  only  a  learned  and  industrious 
but  a  faithi'ul  and  zealous  preacher  of  the  Cospel  of  Christ — 
one  who  did  not  fear  to  declare  the  whole  <;ouns(d  of  Cod."  We 
(easily  a(H'e])t  this  testimony  in  view  of  his  s;'lf-denying,  labor- 
ious a]id  long-continued  services  in  the  organization  ami  estab- 
lislnnent  of  this  then  infant  Church  so  far  distant  from  his  own 
peculiar  charge.  As  the  Church  had  no  sctth-d  ])astor  until 
the  year  1771,  it  was  d«'p(Midciif  in  tlic  nu'an  t-iuc  niioii  such  oc- 


THE   PASTOR ATP:.  21 


cnsional  or  temporary  supplies  as  could  be  obtained.  Besides 
the  annual  visits  of  Dominie  Mancius  for  the  ordination  of 
elders  and  deacons,  the  Church  enjoyed  also  the  services  of 
otiiers,  who  at  long-  intervals  seem  to  hitve  made  them  a  passing- 
visit.  Among  these  are  the  names  of  some  concerning  whom 
we  have  not  been  able  to  gather  any  information. 

Of  tliis  number  is  the  name  of  Dominie  Gilston,  who  ad- 
ministered baptism  to  a  cliild  of  Johannes  !N"ewkerk  and  Geertje 
Klearwater  in  the  year  1740.  He  was  probably  a  minister  of 
some  otlier  denomination  who  chanced  to  be  in  the  vicinity  at 
the  time,  as  no  such  name  appears  in  the  early  records  of  the 
Dutch  Churcli.  Next  to  him  we  find  the  name  of  Dominie 
Chalker  as  officiating  in  the  months  of  February  and  March, 
1742.  Of  liim  nothing  is  known  except  that  he  also  served  the 
Church  of  i!^ew  Paltz  for  a  time.  In  October  1750,  Dominie 
Lennest  baptized  Benjamin,  son  of  Peter  Melsbach,  and  Susan- 
na Comfort.  This  is  tlie  only  record  in  which  the  name  of 
Dominie  Lennest  occurs,  and  we  can  find  no  traces  of  him 
elsewhere. 

In  the  following  year  (1751)  Dominie  Hofhout  baptized 
some  cliildren  in  this  congregation.  As  botli  of  these  entries 
are  made  in  the  same  handwriting,  we  suppose  the  person  wlio 
made  them  must  have  mistaken  this  latter  name  for  that  of 
Dominiv^  Ilaaghoort,  a  prominent  member  of  the  Coetus  party, 
and  the  man  who  was  appointed  to  draw  uj)  the  system  of  rules 
for  tlie  government  of  that  body.  He  was  settled  at  wh^it  was 
then  called  Second  River — now  Bellville,  jST.  J.  His  presence 
here  in  a  congregation  over  which  Dominie  ^lancius  still  exer- 
cised a  supervision,  is  matter  of  surprise  when  we  consider  that 
the  one  was  the  strong  opponent  of  the  Coetus,  and  the  other 
was  equally  prominent  as  its  advocate.  But  on  comparing 
dates  we  hud  that  the  very  year  in  which  he  officiated  here,  he 
also  broke  with  the  Coetus  and  soon  after  joined  with  the  Con- 
ferentie  party.  The  probability  is  that  he  made  his  visit  here 
on  his  way  to  or  from  l^ingston,  whither  he  journeyed  for  con- 
sultation with  his  old  opponent,  Dominie  Mancius,  concerning 
the  state  of  the  Cliurch.     He  seems  to  have  been  a  man  of  strong 


22  THE   I3KICK   CIIURf'II. 


impnl.sos  nnd  prono  to  not  upon  tliem,  for  in  1760  lie  n.onin 
niiccronioiiiously  roiioiinc-cd  flic  CoutVrentio,  ami  tlioiiii'Ii  lie  coji- 
tiiiued  to  iniiiistci-  in  P)ellvil!e  until  1776,  >('t  lie  iicld  liiiusclf 
aloof  from  all  occle.sia.stical  bodies. 

The  name  wliicli  is  next  found  on  the  rreord  of  tlie  min- 
isters otti elating-  in  this  (yliur(;h  previous  to  the  sctth^ment  of  a 
regular  pastor,  is  one  wiiieh  in  our  own  <>"eneration  has  beeome 
prominent  not  only  in  the  institutions  of  the  Church,  but  also 
in  the  Councils  of  the  State.  In  February  1751,  the  IJev. 
Theodorus  b''relini;-huysen,  then  pastor  of  the  chureh  in  Albany 
visited  this  i)lace,  preached  and  bai)tized  two  children.  i\Ir. 
Frelijinhnysen  was  the  oldest  of  hve  brothei'S,  all  of  wliom  en- 
tered tln^  ministry — four  of  them  were  licensed  in  Holland,  and 
two  of  the  fonr  who  had  gone  there  for  that  purpose,  died  on 
the  return  voyage,  having  received  calls,  the  one  to  Kinder- 
hook  and  the  other  to  Wawarsing,  liochester  and  Marbletown. 
TIh\v  were  the  sons  of  Rev.  Theodorus  Jacobus  Freling-huysen, 
the  first  minist(U'  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  in  central 
New  Jersey,  and  the  intimate  friend  of  the  older  Tennent,  AVhite- 
ticld  and  Jonathan  I^^dwards.  To  him  belongs  the  credit  of 
fonnding  the  ('liuich  in  Xew  lirunswick,  and  first  suggestino- 
the  i)lan  of  a  College'  and  Seminary  for  providing  in  tliis  coun- 
try a  w(dl  cdncated  ministry. 

'fhcodorns,  the  son  of  this  ])ioniM'i' of  the  (Miurch  in  Xew 
dcrs'-y,  wliosi'  visit  to  this  ])Ia(M'  we  lia\  e  recorded,  was  licensed 
in  Ilu.liand  in  174"),  and  immediately  came  to  .\lbany  where  he 
ministered  in  the  old  stone  chnreh  then  standing  in  the  middle 
of  the  street  at  the  intersection  of  State  Street  and  Iboadway, 
nntil  1759.  He  is  sai<l  to  have  been  a  man  of  more  than  ordi- 
nary excellence  and  ability,  and  the  occasion  of  his  leavino- 
Albany  alter  tifteen  years  of  successful  labcn-,  is  a  curious  illus- 
tration of  his  cliaracter  as  well  as  of  the  times.  A  reniment  of 
royal  tioops  statioiie<l  at  Alban\,  lia<l  introduced  aiuiui-^-  the 
young  i»eo])le  of  that  staid  and  sobei- city,  a  s|)irit  of  yaiety  and 
faslii(m,  very  trying;  to  the  feelings  of  the  more  godly  in- 
habitants ami  of  their  /ealons  pastoi-.  Thereupon  Dominie 
Frelingliuyseii  preached  an  unusually  earnest    sermon    a-^ainst 


THE   PASTORATE.  23 


tlie  iirevailing'  follies  in  wliicli  no  rtonbt  lie  dealt  with  them 
very  faithfully.  The  next  morning  he  fonnd  at  his  door  a  pair 
of  shoes,  a  walking  statt*,  a  silver  coin  and  a  loaf  of  bread.  This 
he  interpreted  as  an  intimation  for  himto  leave,  and  being  a 
man  of  peculiar  sensitiveness,  he  determined  at  once  to  go. 
Accepting  a  mission  to  Holland  in  behalf  of  the  seminary  to 
which  he  had  been  previously  appointed  by  the  Coetus,  he  sail- 
ed from  New  York  in  October  1759,  and  never  returned.  His 
fate  is  a  mystery,  and  whether  he  was  lost  at  sea  or  died  abroad, 
remains  unknown. 

The  next  year  after  the  visit  of  Mr.  Frelinghuysen,  we  find 
the  first  record  of  occasional  services  performed  in  this  congre- 
gation by  the  Eev.  John  Moftet,  the  then  recently  installed 
pastor  of  the  Goodwill  Church.  Mr.  Mott'et  continued  to  per- 
form these  kind  and  neighborly  services  from  time  to  time  dur- 
ing the  whole  period  of  his  pastorate  of  some  ten  years  in  this 
vicinity. 

Ill  1753,  Rev.  Barent  Yrooman,  then  pastor  of  the  churches 
of  Sliawaugunk  and  New  Paltz,  and  afterwards  for  thirty  years 
the  pastor  of  the  church  in  Schenectady  administered  the  or- 
dinances occasionally  in  this  place.  Otliers,  Avhose  names  are 
not  recorded,  appear  to  have  performed  the  same  kind  offices 
until  1764,  when  Ave  meet  with  the  name  of  Rev.  Gerhard  Daniel 
Cock,  Avho  supplied  this  Church  for  an  uncertain  period — prob- 
ably until  about  the  year  1770.  Of  Dominie  Cock  we  know 
nothing  except  that  he  had  previously  ministered  to  the  united 
congregations  of  Rhinebeck  and  Germantown,  and  belonged  to 
the  so-called  "Conferentie"  party. 

This  rapid  sketch  of  the  ministers  who  served  this  Church 
at  intervals  during  the  first  forty  years  of  its  history,  brings  us 
down  to  the  time  of  its  first  regular  ])astorate,  one  hundred 
years  ago.  From  1732,  wlien  the  Church  was  organized  with  a 
c(mimunion  of  sixteen  members,  until  1771  it  was  dependent 
upon  occasional  and  temporary  supplies.  Dominie  Cock's  min- 
istry as  a  supi)ly  was  tlic^  longest  of  any,  extending  over  a  i)e- 
riod  of  six  or  seven  years.  During  these  years  he  had  baptized 
183  children  in  this  congregation,  nnd  there  Avere  at   the   close 


24  THE   BRICK   C'lIlROH. 


of  his  ministry  here,  the  names  of  ISP)  persons  entered  on  the 
record  of  those  who  liad  been  received  to  tlie  communion  of 
this  Church  since  its  oruanization  in  1732.  Considering-  the 
comparative  sparcity  of  popuhition,  and  that  the  Clmreli  was 
as  yet  withont  a  settled  ])astor,  and  most  of  the  time  withont 
re<;'nhir  services,  and  only  at  lon^-  intervals  favored  with  the 
occasional  administration  of  the  word  and  ordinances,  this  is  a 
record  of  very  rapid  growth,  and  speaks  volumes  in  praise  of 
the  early  settlers  who  gathered  about  this  sanctuaiy  in  the 
wilderness. 

This  portion  of  what  is  now  Orange  County,  then  belonged 
to  Ulster,  and  the  entire  white  po])ulation  of  Ulster  County  at 
this  time  (1771)  was  less  than  twelve  thousand,  an<l  as  the 
"Wallkill  precinct"  was  one  of  its  remote  and  more  recently 
settled  portions,  we  cannot  estimate  its  entire  white  population 
as  over  five  hundred,  and  yet  this  Church  had  on  its  roll  already 
l;j<)  members,  thus  showing  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  its 
adult  population  were  in  the  communion  of  the  Church.  Add- 
ing to  the  membershi]>  here,  those  who  belonged  to  the  Good- 
will Church  and  to  the  now  extinct  Lutheran  Church,  wliich 
st(>(Kl  neai-  the  intersection  oi'  tiu'  Goshen  and  jNIiddletown 
roads,  it  would  seem  that  all  or  nearly  all  the  adult  population 
must  have  been  in  Church  relations.  The  influence  of  this  pre- 
vailing christian  character  oi' those  who  laid  the  foundations  of 
our  present  institutions  and  attluence,  cannot  be  too  highly  es- 
timated, and  we  have  reason  for  devout  thankfulness  to-day 
that  the  early  iiettlers  in  this  favored  section  from  Germany, 
Holland,  Scotland  ami  Ireland,  were  nu'u  who  learcd  God  aiid 
valued  the  ordinaiu-es  of  his  house. 

1  have  intimate<l  already  that  the  first  regular  pastorate 
of  this  Clnireh  began  in  1771— just  one  huiulred  years  ago. 
Towards  the  close  of  that  year  the  Hev.  John  Michael  Kern, 
who  had  been  for  some  years  pastcu'  oi  the  (ierman  Reformed 
Church  of  Xew  York,  came  to  Montgomery  ami  eomnu'iiced  his 
ministry  in  this  Church. 

J)(miinie  Kern  was  educated  at  IIei(lell)urgh,  Germany,  and 
on  an  api)lication  from  the  (Jennan  Keformed  Cliurdi    of   Xew 


THE  PASTORATE.  25 


York  he  came  to  this  country  in  September  1763,  and  took  the 
charge  of  that  congregation.  Tliere  being  no  German  E-eform- 
ed  ecclesiastical  authority  in  this  country  at  that  time,  INIr. 
Kern's  congregation  attached  themselves  to  the  Classis  of  Am- 
sterdam and  Synod  of  North  Holland,  to  which  all  the  Reform- 
ed Dutch  Churches  of  this  country  then  belonged.  When  a 
regular  call  was  made  out  for  Mr.  Kern  and*duly  approved  by 
the  Classis  in  Holland,  he  was  installed  on  the  27th  of  January 
1764,  tlie  ministers  of  the  Collegiate  Church  of  New  York, 
officiating  on  the  occasion.  This  is  one  instance  of  the  early 
intimate  relations  between  the  German  Reformed  and  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Churches  of  this  country.  Our  own  Church  is  anoth- 
er exa  uple.  It  was  originally  composed  of  Germans,  and  Avith 
scarcely  an  exception  the  earliest  recorded  names,  most  of 
which  remain  among  us  to  this  day,  are  of  German  derivation. 
The  corporate  and  legal  style  was  and  still  remains  the  "Ger- 
man Reformed  Church."  And  yet  we  have  seen  that  it  was  or- 
ganized and  fostered  for  years  by  ministers  of  the  Reformed 
Dutch  Church,  and  from  the  beginning,  its  ecclesiastical  rela- 
tion has  been  with  that  body.  Mr.  Kern  continued  in  New 
York  for  seven  years  with  a  high  reputation  for  ability  and 
learning.  The  late  Dr.  Milldollar  was  one  of  his  pupils  there, 
and  always  spoke  of  him  with  the  highest  respect  and  reverence. 
Doctors  Rogers,  Mason,  Laidlie  and  Livingston  were  his  inti- 
mate associates  and  friends.  His  brief  ministry  in  New  York 
was  signalized  by  the  building  of  a  new  church  for  his  congre- 
gation somewhere  in  Nassau  Street. 

Late  in  the  Fall  of  1771  INlr.  Kern  removed  to  Montgomery, 
then  still  known  as  the  "Wallkill  Precinct,"  though  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  1772,  the  precinct  Avas  divided,  and  that  portion 
which  is  now  the  town  of  Montgomery,  was  called  the  "Hanover 
Precinct,"  the  other  portion  retaining  the  old  name  of  "Wallkill." 
Mr.  Kern's  ministry  in  this  congregation  continued  until  1778, 
and  the  former  part  of  it  seems  to  have  been  highly  successful. 
From  the  year  1771  to  n76  he  had  received  to  the  communion 
eighty-two  persons,  and  though  he  remained  here  two  years 
longer  and  administered  the  ordinances,  yet  there  is  no  record 


26  THE  BRICK  CnUROH. 


ol"  any  ailinissions  to  tlic  coiiiinuiiiou  aftoi' 1776.  That  year  in 
wliicli  the  troubles  of  tlu*  coloiiios  witli  Great  Britain  enlmi- 
nated  in  an  open  rn])tm'e,  seems  also  to  have  terminated  the 
nsefulncss  of  Mv.  Kcni  in  this  congregation. 

The  troubles  which  resulted  in  his  ultimate  reiuoval  seem 
to  have  aris?n  from  his  peculiar  views  of  loyalty.  Being  him- 
self a  German,  he  may  have  been  the  more  disposed  to  favor 
the  (daims  of  the  House  of  Hanover.  At  any  rate  tradition  re- 
ports that  he  ailhered  to  the  royal  cause  after  the  Declaration 
of  Indei^endence,  and  continued  as  before  to  pray  for  the  Iving 
in  his  i)ul)lie  ministrations.  This  was  too  much  for  the  stern 
patriotism  of  his  Ihxdc,  who  for  the  nuist  i)art  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  colonies  with  great  fervor,  and  they  Anally  closed 
the  doors  of  the  Church  against  him.  This  does  not  appear  to 
liave  taken  place,  however,  until  two  years  after  the  breaking 
out  ol"  the  Revolution,  as  he  did  not  leave  until  1778,  when  he 
made  his  way  by  some  means  back  to  New  York,  then  in  the 
possession  of  the  British,  where  he  continued  i^reaching 
for  his  old  congregation  until  after  the  evacuation  and  the  re- 
turn of  ])('ace,  when  he  retire<l  to  St.  John's,  Xew  Brunswick, 
where  he  remaine(l  until  1790,  when  having  received  a  call  from 
a  (rerman  Refonne(l  Church  in  Smithtown,  Bucks  Co.,  Penn., 
he  removed  there,  and  after  a  brief  ministry  of  a  few  weeks  he 
(lied  there  in  17!H. 

Mv.  iveiii  was  a  man  of  great  ability  and  high  attainments. 
Tiie  recoi'ds  in  his  hand  writing  which  are  all  in  German  are 
marked  by  a  bohl  and  elegant  i)enmanship,  which  may  be  tak- 
eii  as  an  imlication  of  the  chaiacter  of  the  man.  Perhaps  we 
are  not  as  (diaritable  to  his  mistaken  views  of  loyalty  as  we 
ought  to  be,  or  as  we  would  have  been  if  tlie  event  of  the  strug- 
gle had  been  dilferent,  and  instead  of  the  triumph  ol'  the  col- 
onies  they  had  Iteen  sul)Jugated,  and  their  condition  under  the 
yoke  of  Ibitain  had  eonseijuently  been  worse  tlian  before.  Xo 
«loubt  man.v  good  men  were  averse  to  engaging  in  the  ])atriot 
cause  fi'oni  I  his  appreliension.  They  looked  ui»on  the  move- 
ment as  premature  and  extra  hazardous,  and  upon  the  odds 
against  them  in  the  contiict  as  too  great  to  be  succesfnlly  over- 


THE  PASTORATE.  -!  ( 


come,  and  would  have  preferred  to  endure  the  ills  they  were 
exposed  to,  rather  than  to  rush  upon  other  and  greater  ills  they 
knew  not  of.  Moreover  we  should  bear  in  mind  that  the  rights 
of  the  people  were  not  generally  so  weU  understood  in  those 
days  as  they  are  now.  The  "jure  divino"  doctrine  of  the  pre- 
rogatives of  Kings  and  governments  as  taught  in  the  universi- 
ties and  schools  of  Europe,  had  also  been  stretched  to  an  ex- 
tent which  would  not  be  tolerated  in  our  day. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  is  not  so  wonderful  that  a 
retired  stndent,  naturally  a  lover  of  peace  and  influenced  by 
tlie  theories  which  he  had  early  learned,  should  be  averse  to 
what  he  considered  a  rebellion  against  constituted  authority, 
and  a  rebellion  too,  which  seemed  most  likely  to  entail  vastly 
greater  evils  than  those  from  which  it  souglit  to  escape.  Xor 
on  the  other  hand  is  it  strange  that  a  people  sufferiug  under  a 
system  of  oppression  long  continued,  and  aggravated  by  meas- 
ures wliich  the  wisest  statesmen  of  Britain  pronounced  to  be 
inexcusable,  should  become  impatient  and  resentful  and  hav- 
ing determined  to  right  their  own  wrongs  by  the  stern  arbitra- 
ment of  battle,  that  they  should  count  as  an  enemy  whoever 
discouraged  or  opposed  their  desperate  emprise.  From  the 
historians  of  the  period  we  can  easily  understand  the  tide  of 
feeling  which  swept  over  the  country  upon  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  on  the  4th  of  July  177(J.  From  that  day  the  line 
of  demarkation  was  drawn,  and  it  was  drawn  alike  through 
communities,  churches  aud  families.  Whigs  and  Tories  were 
the  only  recognized  distinctions,  to  which  the  most  sacred  and 
intimate  relations  of  life  were  made  subordinate. 

AVe  have  no  reliable  data  by  which  to  determine  how  far 
Mr.  Kern  took  sides  in  this  contest  at  its  beginning.  But  we 
do  not  hesitate  to  say  it  was  unwise,  it  was  wrong,  after  the 
4th  of  July  1776,  for  him  longer  to  imperil  and  destroy  his  use- 
fulness as  a  servant  of  Christ  by  any  expressions  of  his  adher- 
ence to  the  rejected  crown  of  Great  Britain.  That  official  act 
of  the  assembled  wisdom  of  the  colonies  dissolved  his  alle- 
giance, and  if  conscientious  scruples  forbade  his  silent  acqui- 
escence, he  should  at  once  have  sought  the   protection   of  the 


28  THE   BRTOK   CHURCH. 


government  to  wliicli  he  still  adhered  within  its  own  territories, 
as  he  afterwards  did  in  1778.  And  that  he  was  permitted  to 
remain  so  lon.i;'  after  the  war  l)ei>'an,  si)eaks  w<dl  for  the  for- 
bearance of  this  people.  Tliey  were  Wliiij^s  almost  to  a  man, 
and  earnestly  devoted  to  the  cause  of  American  Indepen<lence 
from  the  first  outbreak  of  the  revolution.  But  they  bore  with 
tiieir  mistaken  i)astor  for  two  years  of  fearful  excitement,  civil 
conflicts  and  bitter  sufferings  for  tlie  patriot  armies.  In  1778 
jiowever,  matters  drew  to  a  crisis.  The  feelings  of  the  i)eoi)le, 
intensified  by  the  protracted  struggle,  were  yet  more  exasper- 
ated by  the  outrages  of  men  calling  themselves  loyalists,  wjio 
in  some  of  the  neighboring  counties,  took  advantage  of  the 
times  and  of  British  protection  to  commit  all  manner  of  violence 
and  dc]>redati()n.  The  name  of  a  Tory  became  odious  an«l  the 
presence  of  one  however  inoffensive  his  conduct  could  no 
longer  be  endured.  The  Church  was  closed  u])on  ^Fr.  Kern, 
and  he  was  c()m])elled  to  leave,  making  his  way,  as  1  said,  to 
the  City  of  New  York,  then  in  possession  of  the  British,  lie  is 
the  only  one  of  all  those  who  have  been  settled  pastors  of  this 
Church  Avho  has  ever  left  it  until  called  away  by  death.  A  fact 
eipuilly  honorable  to  the  ])ast()is  and  to  the  ])eople.  For  <uie 
hundred  years  the  tie  of  this  relation,  except  in  this  one  in- 
stance, has  never  been  sundered  in  this  Church  excei)t  by  tliat 
inevitable  event  which  severs  all  earthly  bonds. 

Aftei-  the  de])artnie  of  Mr.  Kern  the  Church  Avas  a^-ain 
without  a  i)astor  for  a  nund)er  of  years,  though  not  without  the 
fre(|nent  administration  of  the  ordinances.  In  Se])tember  1778, 
the  same  yeai'  that  ^Ir.  Kern  left,  we  find  in  the  recoid  written 
ill  Low  Dutch,  in  hii;  own  beautiful  ajid  distinct  hand  writing, 
that  the  Rev.  Ryneir  Vau  Nest  officiated  here  for  the  first  time. 
]Mr.  Van  Xest  was  then  settled  jit  Shawangunk  and  cojitinued 
to  reside  there,  extending  also  his  ministrations  to  this  ]dace 
until  178').  His  visits  were  frcfiuent,  and  the  ivcoid  shows 
that  during  the  sev<>n  years  that  he  thus  ha<l  the  oversight  of 
this  Work  he  baptized  over  three  hundre<l  (diihlren  and  adults, 
and  received  a  number  of  iKMsons  to  the  communion.  It  was 
a  ha])ity  circumstance  thai  a  man  of  his   discretion    and    piety 


THE  PASTORATE.  29 


was  settled  over  a  neigliboring  church  in  these  troublous  times. 
Tlie  Church  probably  owes  its  preservation  from  utter  distrac- 
tion, and  certainly  its  encouraging-  progress  under  unfavorable 
circumstances  to  the  blessing  of  God  ui^cui  the  labors  of  ]Mr. 
Van  Nest.  Mr.  Van  Nest  was  born  near  Somerville,  X.  J.,  in 
1736.  He  studied  in  this  country  and  was  licensed  by  the 
"general  meeting  of  ministers  and  elders  of  tlie  Jlutch  Reform- 
ed Churches  in  the  Provinces  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 
lield  at  Kingston,  N.  Y.,  Anno  1773."  Besides  his  labors  at 
Sliawangunk  and  this  phice  he  afterwards  also  served  the 
cliurclies  of  Middleburgli,  Schoiiarie,  Jamaica,  Newtown,  and 
Oyster  Bay,  at  different  times,  and  died  near  Somerville,  N.  J., 
in  1813.  Rev.  Dr.  Abraham  Ryneir  Van  Nest,  formerly  of  the 
21st  St,  Cliurch,  New  York,  and  now  laboring  for  the  X)romotion  of 
evangelical  cliristianity  in  Fhu'cncc,  Italy,  is  the  great  grandson 
of  the  old  dominie  who,  for  seven  years,  watched  over  and 
fostered  the  interests  of  this  congregation  as  a  labor  of  love  in 
connection  with  the  duties  of  his  own  especial  charge.  The 
late  venerable  Elder  Van  Nest  of  New  York,  whose  name  will 
ever  be  fragrant  in  the  Dutch  Church  for  his  sound  good  sense 
and  large  liberality,  was  his  lineal  descendant. 

Next  after  Dominie  Van  Nest  the  Church  was  occasionally 
supplied  by  the  Rev.  Stephen  Goetschius,  pastor  of  the  churches 
of  New  Paltz  and  New  Hurley.  This  continued  untd  the  time 
of  j\lr.  Freligh  in  1788.  Mr.  Goetschius  was  the  son  of  Rev. 
Johannes  Henricus  Goetschius,  a  man  of  great  ability  and  at- 
tainments who  exercised  a  successful  but  troubled  ministry  on 
Long  Island  and  in  New  Jersey  during  those  years  of  dissension 
when  the  (luestion  of  the  prerogatives  of  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam 
over  the  churches  in  this  country  was  still  in  dispute.  His 
son  Stei)hen,  who  occasionally  ministered  here,  was  a  man  of 
peace,  and  was  highly  instrumental  in  healing  the  breach  at 
New  Paltz,  occasioned  by  the  controversy  about  American 
ordination.  He  was  also  a  man  of  great  energy  and  activity, 
and  is  said  to  have  organized  no  less  than  nine  churches  in 
Ulster  County  after  the  close  of  the  war.  He  continued  in 
charge  of  the  churches  of  New  Paltz   and   New   Hurley  until 


30  THE  liRicK  ciiURni. 


179fi,  Avlieii  lie  romovod  to  tlio  ])astorate  of  the  united  churches 
of  MarbletoAvii  iuid  Shokaii,  whicli  he  hehl  until  1814.  Thence 
lie  removed  to  New  Jersey  and  ministered  to  the  ehnrches  of 
Pascack  and  Saddle  River  nntil  1835.  Tims  from  the  time  of 
his  licensure  he  had  fulfilled  a  ministry  of  sixty  years,  and 
though  small  of  stature  and  hent  in  form,  yet  so  vigorous  was 
his  constitution  tliat  when  over  ninety  years  of  age  he  could 
yet  ride  on  lioisc  back'  between  liis  two  charges.  ]Mr.  (loetsch- 
ins  never  was  a  proficient  m  the  Englisli  language,  but  loved 
to  preach  in  Dutch,  in  whicli  lie  unfolded  with  great  power  and 
clearness  the  doctrines  of  grace.  Mr.  Croetschius  baptized  a 
large  number  of  persons  in  this  congregation  who  for  tlie  most 
l)art  are  fallen  asleep,  thougli  here  and  there  one  still  survives. 
Tliis  brings  us  down  to  the  time  of  the  second  regular  pas- 
tor of  this  Chui'cli,  Ifev.  Moses  Freligh,  the  recollections  of 
whom  still  linger  in  the  minds  of  some  of  our  older  members, 
and  the  memory  of  whom  will  long  be  tragrant.  Mr.  Freligh 
was  born  m  17G3 — studied  under  his  brother  Solomon  Freligh 
and  Dr.  Livingston,  and  was  licensed  by  the  General  Synod 
of  the  Dutch  lieformed  Church  in  1787.  The  next  year  after  his 
liceiisure  he  was  ordained  as  i)astor  of  the  churclies  of  Sha  wan- 
gunk  and  .Montgojuery.  The  minutes  of  the  General  Synod 
in  extra  session  in  that  year  contain  the  following  record: 
"Messrs.  Jacobus  Van  Campen  limneyn,  Closes  Freligh  and 
Gerardus  Kupers,  S.  S.  .Alin.  Cand.,  after  well  composed  and 
agreeable  exercises  upon  the  trial  texts  assigned  which  art'or<l- 
(m1  the  l>ody  great  satisfaction,  were  carefully  examined  by  the 
Dcputnti  as  well  in  the  sacred  languages  as  in  the  i)riiH'-ipal 
branches  of  sacred  theology,  both  ])ositive  and  polemic.  The 
llevercnd  (iiMitli-mi'ii  having,  by  their  read\  and  intelligent 
answi'rs,  alVor(b'(l  the  licv.  I'>(»(ly  universal  satisfaction,  were 
ther<Mipon  witli  much  freedom  received  among  tln^  number  of 
ministers  and  gianted  the  ]>riviiege  of  preacliing  tlu»  Gospel  of 
Salvation  and  of  adntinistering  the  holy  sacraments.  The 
IMcsident  and  Clerk  were  likewis(i  directed  to  furnisli  the  same 
with  honorable  testimonials,  and  assign  tliem  to  their  respect- 
i\e  conuiegiitions.     The  time  for  (udination  as  to  Moses  Freligh 


THE  RECENT  YEARS.  31 


was  the  third  Sunday  in  June  approaching,  the  discourse  to  be 
delivered  by  Dr.  Isaac  Bhiuvelt,  and  the  laying  on  of  hands 
likewise  by  Drs.  Kysdyk,  Stophanus  Goetsehius  and  Petrus  De- 
witt."  Mr.  Freligh  continued  to  serve  the  two  churches  of  Shaw- 
angunk  and  Montgomery  with  great  acceptance  to  each  until 
1811,  wlien  finding  the  burden  too  great  he  resigned  the  charge 
of  Shawangunk,  and  confined  his  labors  exclusively  to  Mont- 
gomery until  1817,  when  he  died. 

In  my  inquiries  among  tliose  who  remembered  him  for  the 
characteristics  of  Dominie  Freligh,  1  have  found  the  testimony 
uniform  that  he  was  a  man  of  genial  disposition,  of  great  social 
powers,  fond  of  his  joke,  but  withal  a  most  faithful  and  successful 
preacher  and  pastor.  A  very  intelligent  and  very  aged  lady, 
recently  deceased,  summed  up  her  account  of  him  in  a  few  ex- 
pressive words:  "Mr.  Freligh  was  a  jolly  man,  but  he  was  a 
good  dominie."  Dr.  Sprague  in  his  annals  of  the  American 
Pulpit,  speaks  of  him  thus:  "He  was  a  man  of  prepossessing 
appearance  and  of  a  good  mind.  His  voice  was  clear  and  his 
enunciation  distinct,  his  gesture  natural  and  his  delivery  un- 
embarrassed. He  was  familiar  and  agreeable  with  his  friends, 
but  sometimes  fearfully  sarcastic  to  others.  He  had  an  ex- 
uberance of  wit  and  anecdote  at  command  by  which  he  often 
and  easily  carried  his  point  in  argument.  Witli  advancing  age 
he  became  more  reverential  and  manifested  more  religious 
sensibility.  In  all  important  matters  he  was  exceedingly  con- 
s;^'ientious,  and  where  duty  was  involved  he  Avas  absolutely 
immovable.  His  wonderful  exuberance  of  spirit  no  doubt  some- 
what k^ssened  his  usefulness." 

Wc  fully  accord  with  this  just  estimate  of  the  man,  but  to 
the  last  sentence  of  it  we  beg  leave  to  demur.  So  far  from  hin- 
dering his  usefulness  we  believe  that  Mr.  Freligh's  extraordi- 
nary fiow  of  spirits  was  one  secret  of  his  success.  Xo  one 
dreaded  his  presence  as  an  infliction,  but  hailed  it  as  a  boon. 
With  a  pleasant  word  for  all,  both  young  and  old,  he  was  the 
favorite  of  all.  His  r^^ady  wit  sent  them  away  with  sunny 
smiles  if  he  was  pleased  with  their  conduct,  and  they  knew 
tliat  his  entting  sarcasm  could  leave  a   tingling    smart   if  they 


32  THE  BRICK  rniRcn. 


deserved  liis  rebuke.  Mr.  Freligli  was  not  a  man  wlio  counted 
austerity  and  i>loom  as  essential  to  or  indicative  of  piety.  With 
a  consi'iciitious  piiri)()SO  to  <lis('Iiart>-o  liis  whole  duty  as  a  min- 
ister and  a  man,  lu'  was  yet  willin<;'  to  make  the  most  of  life 
wliilc  it  lasted  in  the  enjoyment  of  its  blessin«>s,  as  well  as  in 
tile  elieerful  cndnranco  of  its  ills.  Such  a  man  as  it  se(Miis  to 
nu'  best  ai)pr('ciat('s  the  <^!orious  ii;ospel,  and  will  lust  recom- 
mend it  to  others. 

]  love  to  think  of  the  old  Dominie  as  he  has  been  repre- 
sented to  me  crouching'  in  his  bon^h  honse  early  of  a  Monchvy 
moniinii,- watchinii- the  distant  tlight  of  a  Hock  of  pigeons  and 
skillfnlly  phiying  his  fliers  to  draw  them  within  the  range  of  his 
unerring  fowling  piece,  and  I  say  to  myself  it  is  better  to  be 
there  after  the  mental  and  i)hysical  strain  of  the  Sabbath  is 
over,  than  moping  in  the  Study.  It  was,  1  verily  believe,  tiie 
cheerful  spirits  of  the  hale,  hearty  old  man  and  his  love  of  out- 
door exercise  and  cmi)l()yments  that  added  to  his  success,  as  it 
added  to  his  strength  and  enabled  him  to  hold  out  as  huig  as 
he  (lid  ill  his  laborious  field.  At  any  rate  the  records  show 
that  his  was  a  very  fruitful  ministry.  In  all  he  served  this 
(Jiiurch  twenty-nine  years— for  the  last  six  years  serving  it  ex- 
(dusively.  His  baptisms  are  numbered  by  the  hundreds,  and 
the  accessions  to  the  communion  were  continuous,  and  often 
large— on  one  occasion  no  less  than  thirty  being  admitted  at 
one  time  on  confession  of  their  faith,  in  yonder  inclosnie  his 
remains  rejiose,  siuroiinded  by  the  silent  multitude  to  whom 
he  so  long  declared  the  glorious  gospel  of  (lod.  Peace  to  his 
ashes,  ;ind  honor  to  his  name.  His  record  is  on  high,  and  when 
tJH'  Areli  angePs  tiiimiiet  sIkiII  wake  the  dead,  he  too  will 
arise  siu roiiiided  l»y  the  many  seals  of  his  elticient  and  faithful 
ministry  as  the  second  settled  pastor  of  this  Church. 

]\lr.  Freligh  (li<'(l  on  the  lOth  day  of  February  1817,  and  on 
the  28th  of  September  of  the  saiiu'  year,  Uev.  .lessie  Fonda  was 
installed  as  his  successor.  In  a  conversation  with  the  late  Dr. 
AVm.  IMiilliiis  of  New  Voik  some  years  ago,  he  spoke  of  Mr. 
l-'omla  as  his  classmate  and  friend  in  terms  of  highest  commen- 
dation, and  he  inl'orined  me  also  that  it  was  a    ([nestion    at    tlie 


THE  PASTOKATE.  33 


time  whether  Mr.  Fonda  or  himself  should  go  to  Montgomery. 
"But,  said  he,  ]Mr.  Fonda  received  the  call  and  I  had  to  look 
elsewhere  for  my  heUl."  He  described  Mr.  Fonda  as  a  man  of 
commanding'  i)resence,  of  very  fine  elocution,  and  of  an  excel- 
lent and  highly  cultivated  mind.  This  fully  agrees  with  the 
uniform  testimony  of  those  wlio  knew  him  best,  and  with  tlie 
very  able  productions  which  he  has  left  behind  him.  I  have  in 
my  possession  several  manuscript  sermons  of  his  i>resented  to 
me  by  his  son  wliich  are  certainly  models  of  pulpit  composition. 
They  were  evidently  written  Avitli  tlie  greatest  care,  and  are 
remarkable  for  the  clearness  and  force  of  the  argument  and 
for  the  pertinency  and  urgency  of  the  application.  With  his 
fine  presence  and  splendid  delivery,  they  must  have  been  ex- 
ceedingly impressive.  These,  together  with  his  book  on  the 
Sacraments,  enable  us  in  some  degree  to  estimate  his  ability, 
and  we  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  he  had  but  few  equals 
and  ])erhaps  no  superiors  in  the  ministry  of  his  day. 

From  an  extended  memoir  of  him,  written  by  Dr. 
Brownlee,  and  found  in  the  "Magazine  of  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Ciiurch'.'  for  November  1827,  we  have  gathered  the  following 
facts:  Mr.  Fonda  was  born  in  Watervleit,  Albany  County, 
X.  Y.,  in  1786.  He  graduated  at  Union  College,  and  having 
pursued  his  theological  studies  with  neighboring  ministers,  was 
licensed  to  preach  tlie  gospel  in  1809.  That  same  year  he  ac- 
cepted a  call  from  the  united  churches  of  Nassan  and  Schodack, 
in  llensselaer  County,  X.  Y.  Here  he  devoted  himself  most 
assiduously  to  the  work  of  his  calling,  and  by  systematic  study 
laid  the  foundation  of  his  future  eminence.  After  a  few  years 
he  was  called  to  a  more  conspicuous  and  important  field  where 
he  had  an  op])ortunity  to  make  full  proof  of  all  his  acquire- 
ments and  occasion  for  the  use  of  all  his  resources  as  the  suc- 
cessor of  such  men  as  Drs.  Hardenburgh,  Condict  and  Schure- 
man,  in  the  1st  Reformed  Dutch  Church  of  Xew  Brunswick,  ]S^. 
J.  This  was  considered  at  the  time  as  one  of  the  most  arduous 
and  difticult  charges  in^he  whole  church,  not  only  on  account 
of  the  great  extent  of  the  congregation,  but  also  from  the  fact 
thr.t  it  cmbrnced  the  members  of  the  Faculties  and  the  students 


34  THE  BRTCK   CHUKOII. 


of  the  Theological  Seminary  aii<l  of  tlio  Colleo-e  located  at  that 
place.  But  the  youn<>-  pastor  in'oved  liimself  fully  equal  to  his 
work  anrl  his  labors  in  that  tiyin-i-  field,  were  highly  satisfac- 
tory and  eminently  successful.  He  always  brought  "beaten 
oil  into  the  sanctuary,"  and  never  was  found  in  the  pulpit 
serving  his  Divine  master  with  that  which  had  cost  him 
nothing. 

l)iit  it  is  prol>iibl('  tliat  the  continued  mental  and  physical 
strain  of  such  a  position  began  to  tell,  and  nature  craved  the 
partial  relief  of  a  change.  At  any  rate,  in  1817,  as  I  have  said, 
after  eight  yeais  in  the  ministry,  and  in  the  31st  year  of  this  age, 
he  accepted  tlie  unanimous  and  pressing  call  of  his  congrega- 
tion an<l  came  to  Montgomery.  The  earnest  desire  of  the  peo- 
ple to  secure  the  services  of  Mr.  Fonda  is  evidenced  by  the  fact 
that  whereas  they  had  paid  ^Iv.  Freligh  only  $450,  with  the  use 
of  the  i)ars()nage  farm,  their  call  to  Mr.  Fonda  was  on  a  salary 
of  $800  and  the  farm;  a  sum  which  in  those  days  was  fully  equal 
to  twice  that  anu)unt  now.  And  the  poi)ularity  of  the  new 
l)ast<»i'  seems  to  have  been  unbouu<led.  Every  \w\y  and  sitting 
on  the  Hoor  and  in  the  gallery  was  rented,  and  the  first  year 
the  income  from  the  .seats  went  up  from  $460  to  $850.  ■ 

Mr.  Fonda's  ministry  here  lasted  but  ten  years,  but  during 
that  time  two  liuiidred  and  ninety-six  persons  were  added  to 
the  full  coiuiiiiinion  of  the  Cliurcli.  ^Vith  such  evidences  of 
tlu'  Divine  blessing  we  canuot  but  couclude  that  he  was  an 
honest,  earnest  and  ellicieiit  laborer  in  the  vineyard  of  the  JiOrd. 
Some  sa<l  casi's  ol'  (liscii)liiu'  occurred  during  his  time,  and  the 
last  years  oi*  his  life  were  not  without  serious  contentions 
anuMig  his  own  jM-oplc  aud  bitter  op})osition  from  those  who 
were  witluuil.  The  dinicultit's  within  the  Church  arose  out  of 
the  question  "Whose  children  ought  to  be  baptized?"  A  con- 
troversy which  has  now  long  since  been  put  forest,  and  which 
we  need  n(d  revive  even  by  a  statement  of  the  ])oints  in  dis- 
l)ute.  The  oit]>osition  from  without  was  awakened  by  the 
])reacher's  iearless  dennnciations  of  certain  prevailing  immoral- 
ities. 

The  hist  sermon  he  c\ cr  iJicached  was  long  remembered  in 


THE  PASTORATE.  35 


this  community,  and  is  still  remembered  by  some  wlio  heard  it 
and  by  many  more  who  heard  of  it  from  their  parents  and 
others.  His  text  was  the  XII  chapter  of  Proverbs,  10th  verse: 
"A  righteous  man  regardeth  the  life  of  his  beast,  but  the  tender 
mercies  of  the  Avicked  are  cruel."  From  these  words  he  un- 
burdened his  heart  on  the  then  prevailing  practice  of  horse 
racing-  and  its  cognatic  vices.  In  his  own  graphic  and  animated 
style  he  set  forth  the  whole  process  of  training  by  which  the 
noble  brute  was  pampere<l  and  prepared  as  a  victim  for  the 
torture  until  he  entered  the  field  of  contest.  Then  with  the 
vividness  of  reality  he  picture<l  the  gatliered  and  expectant 
crowd,  the  drinking  and  swearing-  and  betting;  and  then  the 
start  with  the  whoop  and  hallo,  the  bloody  spur  and  flashing- 
whip,  the  panting-  flanks  and  distended  nostrils  with  which  the 
flying  steeds  swept  round  the  circle,  and  the  barbaric  shouts 
and  fiendish  oaths  wliicli  greeted  a  victory  and  defeat.  The 
bickerings,  fightings  and  debauchery  whicli  followed  were  not 
forgotten;  and  so  true  was  the  picture  drawn  to  the  life  that 
repentance  or  rage  must  have  followed  tlie  terrible  castigation. 

On  liis  return  to  liis  Study  tliat  day  he  said,  "I  have  faith- 
fully proclaimed  the  truth  to-day  if  I  never  do  it  again."  It 
was  indeed  his  last  testimony,  his  last  exhibition.  For  years 
lie  had  suffered  from  a  spasmodic  affliction  of  the  stomacli  and 
bowels,  gradually  undermining  his  constitution.  As  early  as 
1821  he  says  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  "I  have  had  s(mie  v^ery 
severe  attacks,  and  I  have  been  most  solemnly  reminded  that 
I  must  sliortly  put  off  this  tabernacle."  Excitement  no  doubt 
aggravated  his  malady  and  finally  paralysis  and  apoplexy  fin- 
ished his  brief  but  brilliant  career.  The  tolling  of  the  church 
beli  at  5  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  2d  day  of  :\Iay,  1827,  was 
the  melancholy  signal  of  his  departure.  His  sepulchre  also  is 
with  us  to  this  day,  and  this  brief  sketch  closes  our  account  of 
the  third  pastor  of  the  Church  of  IMcuitgojuery. 

After  the  death  of  ^Ir.  Fonda  there  was  an  inter-regnum  of 
two  years  during  wlTich  the  elements  of  discord  threatened  to 
break  out  in  a  dangerous  explosion.  Mr.  Fonda  died  in  May 
1827,  and  in  the  following  December  the  consistory  made  a  call 


30  THE  BRICK  cnrr.rn. 


ii]>oii  tlio  Rev.  Jacol)  C.  Soars.  But  for  some  reason  the  Classis 
of  rister  (leelined  to  ai>])rove  that  call,  and  a  consi(lera})le 
commotion  was  the  consequence.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Sears 
were  anxious  to  secure  his  services,  and  indisposed  to  accept  of 
any  otiier  candidate.  The  consistory  gave  notice  of  an  appeal 
from  the  action  of  Chissis,  and  still  the  excitement  went  on  and 
l)arties  were  formed.  Meanwhile  candidates  were  heard  and 
rejected,  and  the  discord  waxed  worse  until  in  May  1829,  wlien 
l*rovideiU'e  sent  relief  from  an  unexpected  quarter.  A  young 
man  of  modest  bearing  and  retiring  manners,  just  ont  of  the 
Seminaiy,  was  i>assing  through  Montgomery  and  was  induced 
to  stop  and  snp])ly  the  vacant  pul]ut.  Xo  one  looked  ujton 
him  as  a  candidate,  himself  least  of  all.  I>ut  he  i>reached  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  then  was  persuaded  to  spend  the  week  and 
])reach  again,  which  he  did.  The  result  was  that  a  congrega- 
tional meeting  was  called  and  he  was  duly  elected  pastor. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  that  young  man  was 
Jlev.  Robert  I'eriiu^  Lee,  Jr.,  who  from  that  time  up  to  the  day 
of  his  death  went  in  and  out  before  this  ]>eople,  ministering  to 
them  in  lioly  things,  and  every  day  growing  strongei'  in  their 
atfections  as  he  also  grew  more  able  and  succes-^ful  as  a  min- 
ister of  the  New  Testament.  Others  have  had  tlieir  iM'riods  of 
greatest  i)opuhnity  witli  something  of  a  subseiiuent  decline. 
r>ut  tlie  conise  oJ'Dr.  Lee  was  steadily  onward  until  it  culmi- 
nat<'d  in  (h'atli,  like  tlie  i)atliway  of  the  just,  sliining  more  and 
more  into  the  peifeci  day.  Tiis  decease  is  too  recent  and  his 
memory  too  fresli  aiul  IVagrant  in  all  your  minds  to  re<inire  an 
extended  notice  of  his- life  and  eliaracter.  lie  was  born  at 
Yorktown,  Westchesti'r  Co.,  X.  V.,  in  1808.  He  graduated  at 
I)ickins(Ui  Colh'ge  in  18"24,  and  from  the  Theological  Senu'nary 
in  New  llrunswick,  N.  .1.,  in  1828,  he  was  licensed  by  the  South 
Chissis  of  New  Vor!<  and  ordained  nnd  settled  in  Montgomery 
in  1829,  and  sp'nt  the  wlioh' of  his  ministerial  life  of  W  years 
in  the  t'aitlifnl  service  t>l' this  congregation. 

An  iiitmiate  ac(|naiiitance  ol'many  y(\ns  enables  me  tosiiy 
that  Dr.  Lee  was  one  of  t he  most  faultless  men  whom  I  have 
ever  known,      it  there  was  any  (l(»fect  in   his    character    it    was 


THE  PASTORATE.  37 


an  extreme  of  caution  which  sometimes  made  him  less  aggress- 
ive than  his  position  and  influence  wouhl  warrant,  but  whicli 
never  led  him  to  shrink  from  responsibility  when  once  it  was 
laid  upon  him.  With  all  his  modesty  and  reserve  he  was  yet 
firm  as  a  rock  when  he  saw  the  path  of  duty  before  him.  He 
Avas  not  only  a  man  of  peace,  but  kindly  in  disposition  and 
wise  in  counsel— he  was  eminently  a  peace-maker.  In  eccle- 
siastical courts  his  judgment  was  almost  unerring,  and  his 
opinion  was  accepted  as  law.  Though  never  a  brilliant  man 
yet  with  a  very  retentive  memory,  he  had  at  command  all  that 
he  had  ever  learned,  and  his  attainments  in  every  dei^artment 
of  christian  science  were  more  than  lespectable.  With  a  clear 
and  connected  view  of  the  theology  of  the  Reformed  Cliurches, 
he  adhered  to  all  its  distinctive  doctrines  with  unyielding 
tenacity.  Witli  a  warm  heart,  sound  sense  and  great  industry 
his  sermons  carefully  prepared  were  always  instructive,  im- 
l)ressive  and  profitable.  Without  being  in  the  ordinary  sense 
of  the  term,  a  great  man,  he  was  just,  all  in  all,  one  of  the  most 
successful  pastors  this  or  any  other  church  ever  had. 

The  first  time  I  ever  met  Dr.  Lee  was  on  the  occasion  of 
my  settlement  over  the  Church  in  ^''ewburgh.  The  last  time 
we  met  AA^as  at  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  this  Cliurch. 
Little  did  I  dream  that  before  the  building  Avas  completed,  the 
pastor  then  apparently  in  the  fullness  of  health  and  in  the  ex- 
uberance of  spirits,  Avould  be  in  heaven!  Still  less,  that  I 
should  stand  liere  to-day  as  his  successor  to  pay  tliis  ])assing 
tribute  to  tlie  fourth  and  ])erhaps  the  best  beloved  pastor  of 
this  Churcli. 

"Life's  little  stage  is  a  small  (Mninence, 
"Inch  high  the  grave  aboA^e;  that  home  of  men, 
"Where  dAvells  the  multitude;  we  gaze  around; 
"We  read  their  monuments;  we  sigh,  and  while 
"We  sigh  we  sink;  and  are  Avhat  we  deplored; 
"Lamenting  or  Lamented — all  our  lot." 
You  perceive  that  in   tin's  rcA'iew   I  liaA^e  confined   myself 
strictly  to  the  personal  history  and  characteristics  of  those  who 
as  temporary  supj)!ies  or   settled  pastors,    have  ministered    to 


38  THE  BRICK  CHUKOII. 


this  people  and  "spoken  to  tliem  the  word  of  God."  And  now 
one  oi'  two  remartvS  pertinent  to  tlie  recollections  in  which  we 
have  iiiduliicd  may  not  be  misplaced.    - 

1.  And  I'irst:  This  Clinndi  has  been  blessed  with  a  suc- 
cession ol"  most  able  and  exccdlent  ])astors.  Tlie  catalogue, 
tiioui;-h  slioit,  is  very  select.  It  would  be  hard  to  find  better 
men  in  their  day  and  <>eneration  than  those  whose  histories  I 
have  biieliy  sketched.  They  were  all  of  them  men  of  God,  men 
of  faith  and  tidcdity,  whom  God  raised  up  and  furnished  for 
their  woik.  In  an  unusual  degree  they  seem  to  have  been 
adapted  to  the  times  and  circumstances  in  which  they  lived. 
Kern  A\  as  a  man  of  high  culture  obtained  in  one  of  the  best 
universities  of  Europe,  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  distinctive 
<lo('tiines  of  the  ]^«^formed,  and  just  the  man  to  lay  the  founda- 
tion of  a  sound  theological  training  among  a  people  just  set- 
tling down  to  fixed  hal)its  of  thought  and  habits  of  life.  AVheu 
his  work  was  done,  Van  Nest  (who  had  just  abandoned  an  or- 
ganization at  New  Paltz,  where  Goetschius  had  succeeded  in 
merging  two  parties  into  one)  taking  this  Chundi  under  his  care 
in  connection  with  one  at  Shawangunk,  did  all  that  any  man 
comM  do  in  those  tioublous  times,  and  kept  alive  the  organiza- 
tion thi'ongh  the  stormy  period  of  the  revolutionary  war. 

TliiMi  caiiu'  the  genial,  warm  hearted  Freligh,  than  whom 
no  man  w  is  lietter  fitted  to  gatlier  ui>  the  scattered  tl<Hdv  and 
concentrate  tlieir  interests  and  energies  around  their  ancient 
sanetuar>  .  I'.ut  affer  thirty  years  of  progress,  during  which 
]»oi)nlation  had  increased  and  educational  interests  greatly  ad- 
vanced, when  the  old  Dominie  was  called  to  his  rest,  it  needed 
the  commanding  i)resen('e  and  stirring  ehxiueiUM^  of  Fonda  to 
re-awaken  the  zciil  and  enteii»rise  of  the  peoi)le.  He  too  ful- 
lilh'd  jii.s  pecniiar  woik  and  went  to  his  rest  and  reward.  l>ut 
the  resnlts  of  that  work,  l)enelicial  as  they  wei'e  in  enlarging 
the  borders  ol  Zion  and  strengthening  her  stakes,  were  ju'c- 
cisely  such  as  rcipiired  the  iirm  yet  modest  bearing,  the  un- 
tiring industry  and  nnrivaled  discretion  of  Lee  to  preserve  the 
Church  from  ruinons  diss(Misions.  Thus  (Jod  watched  over  his 
"vine  and  the  viiu'yard  whicli  he  had  jdanted,"  by  i-aisinir  up  a 


THE  PASTORATE.  39 


succession  of  men  witli  qualifications  widely  different   and   yet 
just  adapted  to  tlieir  work. 

II.  The  secontl  remark  wliicli  I  have  to  make  is  that  all 
these  men  were  distinguished  for  their  uncompromising  adher- 
ence to  the  doctrines  of  the  faith  as  ever  held  by  the  Reformed 
Churches.  Tlieological  novelties  never  found  favor  here;  and 
God  grant  they  never  may!  The  truth  of  God  is  one  and  im- 
mutable. The  volume  of  revelation  is  complete,  and  the  gospel 
was  not  given  to  be  revised  and  amended  to  suit  the  exigencies 
and  caprices  of  successive  generations.  Though  no  enemies  to 
])rogress  in  theological  science,  but  ever  striving  after  higher 
attainments  in  the  interijretatiou  and  exposition  of  divine 
tiuth,  yet  the  men  of  whom  I  have  spoken  were  no  believers  in 
tlie  peculiar  "visions,  interpretations  and  dreams"  by  which 
unbalanced  minds  are  often  deluded  and  charlatans  in  every 
age  seek  to  ride  into  notoriety  and  eminence.  Adhering  to  the 
form  of  sound  words  they  made  the  catechisms  the  manual,  and 
the  Bible  the  basis,  of  their  instructions  to  young  and  old.  Not 
turning  aside  for  every  "Lo!  here"  or  Lo!  there,"  they  were  con- 
tiMit  to  preach  a  pure  gospel,  and  God  honored  their  fidelity  by 
blessing  their  work. 

III.  And  that  leads  me  to  remark  finally,  that  this  sound 
conservatism  in  doctrine  and  practice  go  far  to  explain  the 
success  of  these  iiastorates,  and  the  prosperity  and  permanence 
of  this  Church.  The  fact  to  which  I  have  already  referred  is  a 
record  Avhich  few  churches  can  show:  that  with  a  single  excep- 
tion and  that  under  peculiar  circumstances,  for  one  hundred 
years  the  relation  of  pastor  and  people  in  this  congregation  has 
never  been  broken  until  death  dissolved  the  bond.  Than  that 
fact  no  higher  eulogium  could  be  pronounced  upon  both  pas- 
tors and  i)eople. 


^KE     ^gECENT    0Ey^HS. 
By  The  Pas  tor. 

Dr.  Van  Zandt  with  characteristic  modesty  l)rin<^-s  this 
liistory  to  a  close  with  the  death  of  Doctor  Lee  in  1858,  although 
it  was  written  over  ten  years  after  the  l»e<>innino-  of  liis  own 
pastorate.  It  is  not  necessary  T  slionUl  describe  the  personal 
ap])earance,  character  and  work  of  Dr.  Van  Zandt  to  you  who 
liold  him  in  such  admiring  remembrance.  You  haA^e  often  been 
thrilled  by  the  magnetic  poM'cr  of  his  ebxpience,  convinced  by 
the  clearness  and  strength  of  his  reasoning,  and  subdued  by 
the  pathos  of  his  appeals.  He  was  born  in  Albany  County  in 
1816— graduated  at  l^nion  College,  and  at  Princeton  Theological 
Seminary— was  i^astor  of  the  Ueformed  Church  of  Newburgh, 
N.  Y.,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Petersburgh,  Ya.,  of  the 
Ninth  Street  Reformed  Church  in  Xew  York  City,  and  in  Oct. 
1859,  was  called  to  this  Church. 

He  was  a  man  of  lich  gifts  and  large  attainments,  a  studious 
man  and  an  eloquent.  .Alany  of  his  sermons  have  been  describ- 
ed to  mc,  and  they  must  have  been  master  pieces  of  i)iili)it 
elo((iU'nce.  ^Vrth  logical  mind,  brilliant  imagination,  deep 
Iceling,  keen  sarcasm  when  occasion  called,  choice  ])owcr  of 
language,  and  a  lincly  m()dulat<Ml  voice,  he  was  in  the  highest 
sense  of  the  word,  an  orator,  and  he  fiithfnlly  used  his  great 
power*  in  i)roMioting  the  well'are  of  this  Church,  lie  also  ren- 
dered great  service  to  this  conununity  in  a  niattMial  point  of 
view.  When  it  was  i)r(>posed  to  build  a  raili-oad  thiongh  this 
valley,  the  friends  of  the  enterprise  arranged  public  meetings 
along  the  line  IVoin  Coshen  to  Kingston,  and  they  selected  Dr. 
Van  Zandt  to  advocate  the  cause  before  the  peop!(>.  ('rowds 
gathered  ic  ]wav  liiiii.  He  made  one  of  the  leading  aildi-esses 
at  the  ojiening  meeting  at  the  Court  House  in  (Joshen  in  18()5, 
before  a  sph-ndid  audience,  awakening  the  dee]>est  interest  in 


THE  RECENT  YEARS.  41 


tlie  project;  lie  addressed  many  otlier  meetings  during  the  fol- 
lowing year;  and  he  was  the  orator  at  the  celebration  in  Mont- 
gomery in  1867  of  the  completion  of  the  i;oad.  This  railroad 
has  revolutionized  the  industry  of  this  community,  introduced 
many  comforts  to  our  homes,  and  added  much  to  our  conven- 
itMice;  the  influence  of  Ur.  Van  Zaiult  Avas  an  important  factor 
in  its  establishment. 

In  the  councils  of  the  Church,  the  Classis  and  the  Synods, 
he  was  a  man  of  great  power,  having  a  taste  for  and  clear  un- 
derstanding of  constitutional  law  and  excelling  in  debate.  In 
1870  he  was  appointed  by  the  Classis  of  Orange  to  advocate 
tlieir  cause  in  the  Particular  Synod  of  Xew  York  in  the  apj^eal 
of  tlie  Connitt  case-.  His  argument  on  the  floor  of  the  Synod 
on  "the  Tower  of  the  Classis  to  dissolve  the  Pastoral  Relation" 
was  an  exhaustive  treatment  of  the  subject,  overwhelming  all 
opposition,  and  giving  direction  to  the  jiolicy  of  the  Church. 
It  was  ])ublished  by  the  Church  as  an  appendix  to  the  minutes 
of  the  Synod  for  1870. 

During  his  ministry  here  the  property  of  the  church  was 
greatly  improved.  In  January  1860,  at  a  congregational  meet- 
ing, the  consistory  Avas  authorized  to  build  an  addition  to  the 
parsonage  at  an  expense  of  two  thousand  dollars.  Henry  Ber- 
gen, Christopher  J.  Mould  and  Dr.  Van  Zandt  were  appointed 
a  committee  to  superintend  the  building.  In  1871  the  consistory 
resolved  to  fresco  and  repaint  the  interior  of  the  Church  and 
])urchase  new  chandeliers.  Henry  Bergen,  Cliristopher  J.  ]Mould 
and  John  ]\1.  QuackiMibos  were  appointed  a  committee,  and 
Avere  authorized  to  use  their  discretion  as  to  the  extent,  style 
and  cost  of  the  improvement.  The  work  was  completed  at  a 
cost  of  $4,300,  and  the  confidence  placed  in  the  taste  of  the  com- 
mittee was  richly  justified  in  the  result  as  we  Avitness  it  to-day. 

In  1872  the  General  Synod  of  the  Church  elected  Dr.  Van 
Zandt  to  be  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  Theological  Seminary 
at  Xew  Brunswick,  N.  J.  He  filled  tliat  difficult  and  responsi- 
ble i)ositioii  to  the  satiVaction  of  the  whole  Church,  until  his 
death  in  July  1881.  He  retained  through  life  a  AA^arm  affection 
for  this  Cluirch,  as  is  AAntnessed  by  his  purchasing  a  farm  in  the. 


42  THE  BRICK  CHUKCn. 


borders  of  the  congregation  wlicrc  lie  spent  liis  vacations,  and 
wlicii  lie  came  to  die,  by  bis  clioosing  tlie  cemetery  of  tliis 
Ciimvh  as  bis  burial  place.  There  be  sleeps,  surrounded  by 
the  fast  filling  graves  of  bis  people;  the  fourth  Pastor  whose 
s(']>iilchre  is  with  us. 

The  pastor  following  Dr.  Van  Zandt  was  one  whom  you  all 
love,  and  to-day  «lelight  to  honor—Rev.  Cornelius  Jbett.  He 
was  born  in  New  York  City — gi-aduated  at  Xew  York  Tniver- 
sify  and  New  Ibiinswiek  Seminary — was  pastor  of  the  llefonu- 
ed  Chui-ch  of  Flatlaiuls,  Long  Island,  an<l  then  of  the  lieformed 
Church  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  from  whieh  Church  he  was  called  here 
in  the  Spring  of  1878.  At  the  very  opening  of  his  ministry  the 
proi»erty  ol' the  Chuicli  was  further  improved  by  the  erection 
of  a  new  tenement  htuise  at  the  cost  of  $1,000;  the  committee  of 
the  consistory  having  charge  of  the  improvement  being  Ken- 
wick  (Jillespie,  Christopher  J.  ^Nlould  and  Samuel  Augustus 
Comfort.  In  1HT()  Cinist(>pher  J.  Mould  resigned  the  olitice  of 
financial  agent  of  the  Church.  The  money  expended  for  the 
inquovenuMit  of  the  Chnrch  property  from  the  time  of  the  build- 
ing ol"  this  (Miurch  in  1858  to  the  erection  of  the  new  ti'uement 
house  h;i(l  passed  through  his  hands.  A  i)art  of  hi,s  accounts 
were  j>iil>lislied  in  18()2  and  the  ]'emainder  in  1875.  These  show 
that  s4(),i).')7  had  been  received  and  expemled  by  him,  which 
speaks  cleiMJy  of  the  long  <-ontinue<l  fidelity  of  the  agent  and 
of  the  whole  souled  liberality  of  the  ])eople. 

Mr.  Ibctt's  ministiy  here  was  blessed  of  (lod  with  the 
gi'eiitest  revixal  known  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  The  books 
siiow  a  large  accession  to  the  membership  of  the  Church  at 
nearl\  excry  comnuinion  service  from  the  opening  of  his  min- 
isti>.  Doling  the  winter  of  1875-0  the  religions  interest  grew 
intense,  :iiid  at  the  .March  communion  fifty-five  members  were. 
recei\('d  into  tiie  fellowslii])  of  this  Church  on  confession  of 
their  faith.  A  scene  iM'ver  before  witnessed  here,  ;ind  which 
will  long  nil  the  memory  and  cheer  the  souls  of  those  who  be- 
held it.  Of  Mr.  Ilrett,  ]>ersoiially,  it  is  not  fitting  I  sluuild 
speak  in  his  i>resence  in  the  high  teiiiis  the  subject  deserves. 
1  can  onh'  sav  the  iccortls  of  the  Church  will  ever  bear  their 


THE   RECENT  YEARS.  43 


silent  but  impressive  witness  of  his  able  preaching  and  faithful 
pastoral  work.  In  the  summer  of  1876  he  was  called  to  the 
Reformed  Church  of  Bergen,  N.  J.,  of  whi.(,'h  Church  he  is  now 
the  pastor. 

The  present,  which  is  only  the  seventh  pastorate,  began  in 
March  1877.  The  characteristic  liberality  of  the  people  in  the 
care  of  their  Church  property,  found  in  1880  an  unsought  occa- 
sion for  its  exercise.  A  tornado  in  the  Spring  of  that  year  de- 
molished the  upper  part  of  the  tower  of  the  Church.  At  once 
the  project  was  formed  not  only  to  rebuild  it  but  to  surmount 
it  witli  a  spire.  The  original  design  of  the  Church  drawn  by 
tlie  architect  in  1858  included  a  spire.  For  some  cause  it  was 
not  erected  at  that  time;  but  the  design,  containing  speciUca- 
tions,  was  still  in  existence.  The  consistory  decided  to  build 
the  spire  according  to  this  design,  and  Ebenezer  Van  Alst, 
Jesse  F.  Mould  and  John  I).  Mould  were  aj^pointed  a  commit- 
tee to  carry  on  the  work.  It  was  found  the  cost  would  be 
about  $1,400,  and  nearly  the  whole  amount  was  raised  before 
the  Avork  was  begun.  Wlien  the  frame  of  the  spire  was  up  and 
inclosed  with  boards,  it  was  generally  regarded  as  deficient  in 
height  and  too  bulky  in  form.  The  building  committee  promptly 
concluded  to  take  it  down  and  build  another  thirty  feet  higher, 
ami  tlu^  present  lofty  and  graceful  spire— the  pride  of  all  the 
country  round — was  finislied.  The  consistory  and  the  people 
approved  the  action  of  the  committee  and  cheerfully  assumed 
the  increased  expense.  In  the  Summer  of  1882  improvements 
were  made  in  the  interior  of  the  Church.  The  faces  of  the 
pews  were  remodeled,  and  the  whole  floor  was  made  one  level 
and  newly  carpeted  thronghout.  The  expense  of  this  improve- 
ment was  paid  by  a  legacy  left  the  Church  by  Chri«tophor  J. 
;Mould,  then  recently  deceased,  which  was  generously  advanc- 
ed by  the  family  before  it  was  due  for  that  purpose. 

While  this  Church  has  ever  exercised  a  generous  care  in 
the  appointments  of  her  worship  she  has  also  been  very  liberal 
in  advancing  the  caus^  of  Christ  beyond  her  bounds.  For 
many  years  she  has  contributed  annually  between  $G00  and 
^700  to  the  cause  of  foreign  missions;  two  years   ago   when    an 


44  THE  BRICK  CHURCH. 


effort  was  made  to  pay  the  debt  of  our  Foreign  Mission  Board, 
she  gave  over  $1,000.  Her  annual  gift  to  the  Board  of  Domes- 
tic Missions  amounts  to  about  $300.  Besides  she  contributes 
liberally  to  the  American  Tract  Society  and  the  Bible  Society, 
and  to  every  good  cause  in  the  community,  and  in  the  world 
which  appeals  to  her  for  support. 

The  Church  which  was  founded  in  the  wilderness  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  ago  with  sixteen  members,  now  flourishes 
in  this  goodly  land  with  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  families 
and  three  hundred  and  ninety-eight  members.  God  has  blessed 
our  fathers.  He  is  blessing  us.  With  gratitude  and  hopeful- 
ness we  enter  the  future.  Let  the  memories  of  the  past  prove 
incentives  for  the  time  to  come. 


THE  ADDRESS.  45 


By  Rev.  Cornelius  Brett. 


My  Dear  Brother: — I  thank  yoii  heartily  for  tlie  kind 
words  Avith  which  you  have  spoken  of  my  ministrj-  in  this  Church, 
and  I  thank  both  you  and  the  consistory  for  the  x>rivilege  of 
joining-  In  these  deeply  interesting-  services. 

Young-  and  old  are  relative  rather  than  absolute  terms.  A 
butterfly  whose  ephemeral  life  is  finished  in  a  single  summer, 
may  be  called  old  when  two  of  its  three  months  are  ended. 
But  the  man-child  who  has  lived  but  sixty  days,  is  still  a  help- 
less nursling-  whose  life  is  hardly  begun.  On  the  other  side  of 
the  Atlantic,  people  smile  at  our  centennial  celebrations,  for 
these  older  nations  count  time  by  millenniums  rather  than  cen- 
turies. But  to  the  Orientals,  even  the  antique  cathedrals  of 
Europe  seem  but  the  creations  of  a  day,  beside  monuments 
which  are  coeval  with  the  race. 

In  this  parvenu  land  however,  which  four  hundred  years 
ago  had  not  been  visited  by  white  men,  a  Church  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  old  ranks  with  the  elders  of  America.  Where 
everything-  is  so  very  new,  where  all  our  institutions  smack  of 
juvenility,  and  our  buildings  are  redolent  of  new  paint,  it  is  a 
satisfaction  to  find  some  traces  of  antiquity,  and  to  cherish  a 
few  precious  relics  that  have  come  down  to  us  from  a  never- 
to-be-forgotten  past.  I  esteem  it  a  high  honor  that  I  have  been 
permitted  during  my  ministry  to  serve  three  ancient  churches, 
and  thus  to  have  linked  my  poor  imiierfect  labor  in  the  historic 
chain,  whose  beginning  is  riveted  into  the  pillars  which  stand 
at  the  gate  of  the  Eepublic.  That  Montgomery  is  the  youngest 
of  this  trio,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  early  emigrants  settled  in  the 
immediate  vicinage  of^New  Amsterdam  full  fifty  years  before 
they  discovered  the  scenic  beauty  and  abundant  fertility  of 
the  Wallkill  Vallev. 


40  TTIE   BRICK   CIirKCII. 


l"\-\v  climclics  IiJiN'c  sucli  a  iccoid  ns  tlie  Reformed  Chiircli 
of  Mont.uomery.  Only  one  pastor  in  all  its' history  has  been 
dismissed  to  another  (diuroli!  Four  noble  men  honored  by  the 
whole  Ohnreh  as  God's  faithful  servants,  j>ave  the  stren.nth  and 
\\iXov  of  their  manhood  to  this  community.  Did  ever  one 
cliurch  count  amon^'  its  ministers  four  such  men  as  Frelijih, 
I'oiKla,  Lee  ajid  \'an  Zandt?  Three  of  these  died  here  in  your 
service  witli  the  harness  on;  one  in  his  latter  days  asi^ended 
from  your  ]>uli)it  to  the  hi,i>hest  ])lace  in  the  i»ift  of  the  Church. 
All  ol' them  >()U  have  buried  under  the  shadow  of  your  sanctu- 
ary, where  now  their  sacred  dust  is  cherished  to  await  the 
trumpet  blast  which  shall  call  pastor  and  people  to  meet  before 
the  Great  White  Throne.  It  is  indeed  an  honor  to  be  enrolled 
in  such  company;  to  build  on  foundations  which  such  servants 
of  God  have  laid,  liiihtens  the  ])astor's  labor  and  ^ives  earnest  of 
success.  We  may  con«>ratulate  each  other,  my  brother,  that  tlie 
head  of  the  Church  has  called  us  to  this  service. 

Every  church  with  a  history  develops  certain  peculiarities 
of  church  life,  which  are  maintained  as  its  characteristic  fea- 
tur<'s.  Tiiese  may  be  the  result  of  national  idiosyncrasies.  The 
descendants  of  the  Freiudi  will  manifest  an  earnest  enthusiasm 
in  life  and  worship.  The  8cot(di  Irish  may  be  known  by  their 
stron;;- aHe.iiiance  to  the  faith  of  tludr  fathers.  Germans  will 
be  thoughtful ;  llolhiiiders  loyal  in  their  unyieldin<>-  determi- 
nation; and  the  i'nritaus  will  ever  assert  the  freedcmi  of  thoui»ht 
and  ri^^ht  of  private  jud;.;nu'nt.  Or,  a^ain,  characteiistics  of 
chiirclies  may  be  t  he  result  of  early  training-.  Careful  theological 
instrnction  will  be  a])preciated  throughout  many  generations, 
and  on  the  other  hand,  looseness  of  statement  leads  as  surely 
to  the  faith  of  vacillation,  easily  turned  about  with  every  wind 
of  doctrine.  The  surroundings  and  occupations  of  the  people 
also  ha\('  theii'  inlluence  in  giving  tom>  and  color  to  piety. 
Farly  sacrifi<-cs  in  the  day  of  small  things  increase  larg«dy  the 
lilterai  thought  (»f  the  future;  wliile  tlu' jtrosperity  of  later  years 
enlarges  (»i»portiinily.  A  country  church  will  develop  in  one 
direction,  a  city  or  village  churcdi  in  still  other  a<'tivities. 

The  history  so  ebxjnently  written  and    imi)ressiv(dy    d(div- 


THE   ADDRESS. 


ered,  has  prepared  you  to  consider  the  influences  exerted  in 
the  organization  and  growth  of  your  church.  It  is  my  part  in 
these  exercises  not  to  review  the  history  but  to  gather  ui)  re- 
sults, to  tell  as  they  ap]>oar  to  me  the  characteristics  of  our 
Ancient  Zion. 

I.  Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  of  these  is  tirm,  unwaver- 
ing orthodoxy.  There  has  been  no  free  thinking  or  doubting 
among  you.  The  isms  which  have  rent  other  communities, 
found  here  no  congenial  soil.  If  there  has  ever  been  a  deist 
liere,  he  has  been  a  marked  man  to  be  shunned  as  a  blasphemer, 
and  not  admitted  to  intimate  friendsliip.  The  strong  faith  of 
a  Church  instructed  and  indoctrinated  has  made  the  very  air 
hostile  to  doubt.  To  the  ancestral  bias  which  tliought  receiv- 
ed from  the  orthodox  emigrants  who  settled  on  these  beautiful 
hills,  has  been  added  persistent  instruction  in  the  catechism 
and  a  long  succession  of  theological  sermons.  I^o  wonder  you 
stand  fast  in  the  doctrine  which  you  have  received  from  the 
beginning  "line  upon  line,  precept  upon  i^recept." 

II.  It  is  to  be  noted  also  that  the  peculiar  form  of  your 
theology  is  the  grand  old  continental  system  of  the  Covenants. 
In  Adam  our  Federal  Head,  we  fell;  in  Christ  the  Second 
Adam,  we  stand,  because  of  the  Covenant  made  for  our  re- 
demption. The  sign  and  seal  of  this  Covenant  is  transmitted 
from  generation  to  generation  in  the  holy  ordinance  of  bap- 
tism. Since  the  first  German  emigrants  built  their  homes  on 
yonder  stream,  this  sacrament  has  been  held  in  high  esteem; 
now  the  long  line  of  babes  at  the  public  administration  gives 
promise  of  perpetuity  to  the  Cliurch.  There  is  scarcely  an  un- 
baptized  child  in  the  community. 

III.  The  result  of  this  fidelity  to  the  ordinances  of  God's 
lionse,  has  been  a  regular  and  large  increase  of  membership. 
Parents  seemed  to  expect  the  rising  generation  in  due  time  to 
make  public  profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ.  Every  year 
has  brought  its  accessions.  If  in  early  life  any  failed  in  the 
performance  of  duty,  \\*iien  the  man  and  woman  were  joined  in 
holy  wedlock,  they  came  together  to  Christ's  table  ansl  took 
Jesus  as  a  ])arty  to  their  solemn  comi)act. 


48  THE  BRICK   CHUKCn. 


IV.  In  an  intense  degree  has  been  developed  also  amons: 
the  membershii)  a  loyal  devotion  to  the  Church.  The  Church, 
as  an  organization  and  institution,  has  been  on  the  lu^art  of  the 
people.  It  has  not  been  known  as  "J)r.  Lee's  Church"  or  "Dr. 
Van  Zandt's  Church,"  but  as  the  Brick  Church.  Those  who 
live  at  a  distance  attend  the  services  as  regularly  as  the  door- 
keepers. Church  ])ride  as  a  form  of  church  loyalty,  led  this 
community  to  erect  and  adorn  this  graceful  jind  tasteful  house, 
and  to  give  the  ])astor  a  parsonage  so  commodious.  It  is  true 
there  has  sometimes  been  a  thought  out-si)oken  that  committees 
were  spending  too  much  money  in  these  externals;  but  those 
Avho  held  back  at  first  wheeled  into  line  at  last,  and  were  as 
l)roud  as  the  others  of  the  Church  and  its  surroundings.  Even 
when  circumstances  have  compelled  removal,  many  a  pilgrim- 
age has  been  made  by  loving  feet  to  the  old  shrine,  and  liun- 
dreds  are  glad  to  say  unto  the  ebb  of  life  that  hither  they  came 
up  of  old  to  Zion's  solemn  feasts. 

V.  Another  development  of  your  activities  has  been  in 
the  line  of  missionary  etfort.  At  a  recent  meeting-  of  the  Amer- 
ican Board  a  lengthy  discussion  was  held  concerning  the  true 
motive  of  missionary  effort.  While  some  held  that  the  philan- 
thropic idea  is  uppermost,  and  men  hasten  to  distant  lands, 
zealously  desiring  above  all  to  save  their  fellowmen.  Others 
again  made  prominent  the  ultimate  end  of  all  labor  for  souls, 
the  regeneration  and  conquest  of  the  world.  While  there  were 
still  otlu^rs  who  referred  all  their  zeal  and  consecrated  toil  to 
the  i)romi)ting  of  tlie  love  of  Christ.  Now  these  three  motives, 
the  two  formei-  jjroceeding  from  the  last,  have  conjoined  to 
stimulate  your  beneficence.  Every  year  you  have  laid  aside  a 
g:oodly  portion  of  your  means,  as  God  has  prospered  you  for  the 
conversion  of  the  world  to  Christ.  Your  contributions  have 
thus  brought  you  into  a  living-  and  throbbing-  union  with  mis- 
sion fields.  You  have  been  deeply  interested  in  all  their  suc- 
cesses, and  have  felt  yourselves  to  be  co-laborers  Avitli  God. 
Xor  have  other  dei)artments  of  Christ's  Kingdom  escaped  you. 
The  P.ible  Society,  Tract  Society,  Home  Missions,  Christian 
Education,  have  systematically   and    regularly    received    your 


THE   ADDRESS.  49 


support.  No  call  has  been  made  on  your  inirses  that  has  not 
met  Avith  liberal  response. 

VI.  Still  further  has  piety  in  this  community  taken  the 
form  of  a  strong  and  vigorous  manhood.  Orthodoxy  does  not 
run  men  and  women  in  one  mould.  Unity  of  doctrinal  thought 
leaves  room  for  honest  differences  of  opinion,  which  have  been 
discussed  in  public  and  private,  in  friendly  gatherings  from 
house  to  house,  and  about  the  fire  of  the  village  store.  "Many 
men  of  many  minds"  are  here.  There  is  a  strong  individuality 
of  character.  Never  have  I  known  personality  so  marked  and 
diverse  as  among  these  my  old  neighbors.  Yet  withal  there 
abounds  a  sterling  honesty,  unwavering  integrity,  outspoken 
truth,  self-sacrificing  neighborliness,  and  loving  brotherly  kind- 
ness. By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them,  and  these  are  the 
fruits  of  the  spirit.  Especially  has  the  power  of  the  Gospel 
been  manifested  that  the  nearer  men  came  to  the  Church,  and 
the  more  they  put  themselves  under  its  holy  influences,  the 
grander  has  been  the  development  of  a  noble  type  of  manliness. 
By  the  hand  of  christian  men,  has  the  banner  of  Truth,  Tem- 
perance and  Reform  been  flung  to  the  breeze. 

As  I  come  back  to  this  pulpit,  my  friends,  after  an  absence 
of  six  years,  I  cannot  but  realize  what  you  have  felt  in  the 
pains  of  sore  bereavement,  that  many  valued  lives  have  been 
lost  to  you.  What  a  change  has  come  over  the  face  of  this 
congregation  !  I  look  in  vain  among  these  wing  pews  on  the 
left  for  that  faithful  elder  and  beloved  physician.  Dr.  Bushrod 
Millsj^augh,  who  notwithstanding  his  extensive  practice,  always 
found  time  for  the  Sabbath  service.  Over  there  also  on  the 
left  I  miss  the  pleasant  face  of  one  of  our  most  successful  Sab- 
bath School  teachers,  Mrs.  Theron  Sease.  From  the  singer's 
seat  we  no  longer  hear  the  sweet  voice  of  the  gentle  maiden 
who  has  joined  the  choir  of  angels  in  Heaven.  From  the  neigh- 
bors of  the  parsonage  on  the  east  and  west,  two  families  have 
folded  their  tents  and  moved  silently  to  the  land  whence  no 
traveller  returns.         * 

And  down  this  middle  aisle  it  seems  as  if  the  reaper  death 
had  been  mowing  a  great  swarth.     All  is  here  changed.     Wib 


50  THE  BRinc  ciiuKCir. 


liam  Sliafer  and  wife  were  both  teaeliers  in  the  Sabbath  School. 
His  sound  judgment  and  her  Jienial  hosi)itality  we  all  appre- 
ciated and  enjoyed.  INIoses  Mould  and  wife,  suddenly  called 
away  by  that  strange  providence,  "lovely  and  pleasant  were 
they  in  their  lives,  and  in  their  death  they  were  not  divided." 
Tlicre  sat  also  David  ^louhl,  the  patron  and  friend  of  the  Tract 
Society,  as  of  every  j;ood  work;  and  next  to  him  the  sister, 
whose  poetic  tliouiilits  often  led  the  people  of  God  to  higher 
meditations.  1  seem  to  see  her  now  standing,  IMhk'  in  liand, 
Itcfore  that  huge  class  of  young  ladies  enchaining  attention  as 
she  expounded  to  them  the  mysteries  of  truth.  One  of  the  last 
acts  of  my  pastorate  here  was  to  lay  in  t]\e  tomb  of  his  fathers 
my  old  friend  and  father  in  Israel,  Daniel  Uookstaver. 

And  when  last  I  stood  in  this  place,  the  Church  was 
thronged  even  as  to-day  while  the  noble  form  of  Christo])her 
J.  ]\I()uld  lay  waiting  for  burial.  In  the  experience  of  four  con- 
gregations, 1  have  never  met  a  grander  specimen  of  earnest 
manly  piety.  lie  was  ready  in  every  emergency  to  help  for- 
ward every  good  work.  He  was  known  as  the  preacher's  friend, 
and  the  man  who  carri(Ml  his  heart  in  his  hand  and  the  Church 
in  his  heart.  "Do  not  i)ut  me  in  consistory,"  he  would  some- 
times say  ;  "I  will  work  for  the  Church  even  if  I  am  out  of  oftice." 
To  use  his  own  homely  tigure,  he  was  a  man  whom  you  could 
"harness  every  time."  No  matter  who  proposed  a  measure,  if 
a  good  one,  he  was  ready  to  second  it.  If  tlu're  was  no  leader 
ready  he  ste}>ped  to  the  front. 

As  I  think  of  tiiese  losses,  friends,  sustained  during  these 
few  years,  I  often  wonder  how  the  Church  is  able  to  carry  for- 
ward its  work  without  the  men  and  women  wlio  have  gone. 
"The  Fathers!  where  ;ire  they  ?  And  the  Prophets  !  do  they 
live  forever?"  And  yet  this  is  our  comfort:  "Instead  of  the 
fathers  shall  be  the  children."  It  has  ever  been  thus  in  the 
history  ol' the  ("liurch.  Though  the  most  useful  nu'jnbers  of 
society  are  taken  away,  (lod  takes  care  of  his  work.  An 
eagl(^  flying  in  mid  air  drops  a  few  feathers  u])on  the  whirling 
eddies,  but  he  stops  not  in  his  course.  Neither  can  the  i>rogTess 
of  Truth  cease,    because    lives    which    have    given    i(    inijiulse 


THE   ADDRESS.  51 


cease  on  earth.  From  father  to  son,  then,  we  stand  ready  to 
hand  down  the  lighted  torch  of  the  divine  word.  When  one 
light  bearer  falls  let  another  seize  nnd  Avaye  it  triumphantly 
on  high. 

I  cannot  close  these  desultory  remarks  Avithoiit  contribut- 
ing- a  few  personal  reminiscences  to  the  history  of  your  Church. 

How  time  flies  !  I  have  been  away  from  jMontgomery  twice 
as  long  as  I  was  here.  I  remember  well  that  hot  and  dusty 
July  day  in  the  year  1873,  when  a  wearied  family  left  the  cars 
at  Montgomery  station,  to  find  friendly  carriages  waiting  to 
take  them  home.  Kever  was  tlie  quiet  beauty  of  the  rivei-, 
reflecting  hills  and  woods,  the  waving  g-rain  almost  ready  for 
luuvest,  and  the  distant  mountains  solemn  and  grand,  more  re- 
freshing, or  more  lieartily  enjoyed.  And  when  your  liberality 
brought  the  horse  and  buggy  to  our  door,  and  liberty  was 
given  to  explore  at  will  the  nooks  and  corners  of  the  wood- 
land, happiness  seemed  complete.  Your  reception  Avas  replete 
witli  kindness;  loaded  tables  were  set  as  for  the  banquet  of  a 
King,  and  the  cheerful  helpfulness  of  strong-  arms  was  put 
forth  to  bring'  order  out  of  chaos. 

A  fcAV  other  scenes  are  very  vividly  before  me.  Hoav  we 
enjoyed  the  first  prayer  meeting" !  With  trembling  hands  Ave 
"set  the  old  room  in  order,  and  waited  for  you  to  come.  You 
came  in  large  numbers.  We  had  a  precious  season,  the  har- 
l)inger  of  many  more  to  folloAV.  Then  came  the  time  for  the 
first  session  of  the  Sabbath  School.  We  tried  to  meet  in  the 
gallery,  but  soon  were  croAvded  out  into  the  larger  space  of  the 
ground  floor.  What  pleasant  entertainments  we  held  at  Christ- 
mas, AA'hen  the  house  was  a  boAver  of  green  and  resounded  Avith 
flashing  crackers;  Avhen  the  smokers  were  remembered  Avith  a 
harmless  cigar,  and  the  merry  laugh  of  childhood  seemed  to  be 
a  carol  of  praise.  We  remember  the  throngs  aaIio  came  Avith 
their  gifts  to  the  parsonage  at  the  annual  donation;  also  the 
great  familv  parties  when  tables  fairlv  groaned  beneath  the 
Aveight  of  your  good  cheer.  I  haA^e  not  forgotten  the  catech- 
umens AAdio  waited  for  me  at  the  school  houses;  nor  the  eager 
attention  of  the  older  friends  Avho  attended  our  district  preach- 


52  THE   BRICK   CHITHCII. 


]r\jX  find  prayer  services.  On  one  of  the  days  of  prayer  for 
Colleges  and  Schools,  I  visited  every  school  in  the  cong-reg'a- 
tion,  to  speak  a  few  tliou<4htt"nl  words  to  the  children.  From 
these  meetings  hand  to  hand,  and  face  to  face,  I  always  exi)ect- 
ed  resnltant  g"ood. 

AVe  had  m;niy  a  battle  for  Temperance  also;  sonn^times  we 
suffered  defeat,  but  there  was  one  day  of  victory  when  a  mem- 
ber of  this  Church  withstood  the  enemy  to  his  face,  and  won 
from  our  Excise  Board  a  decree  of  "No  License." 

Perliaps  the  most  vivid  impressions  were  made  by  the  re- 
vival services  of  my  last  winter.  A  few  of  us  bowed  with  the 
evangelist  one  afternoon  in  the  Methodist  Church;  before  his 
visit  closed  we  saw  the  Presbyterian  Ciiurch  crowded,  and  on 
one  evening  every  place  of  business  closed  that  all  mig'ht  attend 
to  the  soul's  salvation.  Then  came  the  ingathering,  when  the 
happy  company  of  young  and  old  stood  up  in  this  place  to  con- 
fess their  Savior,  and  be  received  into  Church  fellowship.  Great 
Avas  tlie  rejoicing-  of  that  hour  as  united  households  of  ransom- 
ed si)irits  sang-  praises  on  earth,  and  gave  the  chord  for  the 
angels'  song  on  high. 

Dearly  beloved  in  the  Lord,  1  congratulate  yon  on  your 
woitiiy  rccoid.  Praise  God  for  your  historic  past,  but  go  on  to 
acliirve  nol)ler  and  grander  things  in  the  future.  Remember 
this  is  not  now  a  .struggling  Church,  whose  existeiu;e  is  in  doubt, 
wliosc  life  is  ill  i)eril.  Your  future  is  assured  by  the  past.  No 
hand  can  fell  you  to  earth,  your  roots  take  such  deep  hold  on 
the  earth  they  cannot  be  torn  away.  The  community  expects 
much  of  you;  it  has  a  rig-ht  to  its  expectations;  do  not  let  any 
be  <lisai)i)ointed  by  your  failures. 

Voiiiig  men  and  maidens  are  you  taking  tlie  i)lace  of  your 
elders,  who  cither  have  b(>en  trarishited  or  must  soon  be  caught 
ujt  to  Heaven*:'  As  the  world  lias  .so  far  advanced  you  ought 
to  do  even  better  work  than  they.  Do  not  hang- back  reluctant 
to  t'liter  the  strife,  but  "i)ut  on  the  whole  ai'mor  of  (iod,"  and 
"stand  in  the  lot"  where  lie  has  ]>laced  you. 

The  Chiiivh  is  built  u))  like  those  grand  old  cathedrals, 
whieii  are  the  marvel  of  the    worhl.     Centuries  aij-o    were    the 


THE  ADDRESS.  53 


foundations  laid,  and  slowly  does  tlie  massive  pile  approach 
completion  according  to  the  master  plan.  Each  age  adds  a 
chapel,  tower  or  spire.  On  gronnd  plan  as  in  every  decoration 
the  cross  stands  forth,  and  when  at  last  the  ?ime  has  come  for 
the  last  stone,  it  also  bears  aloft,  as  it  were  a  very  key  to  un- 
lock the  gates  of  glory,  the  same  symbol  of  our  Savior's  sacri- 
fice. Eighteen  centuries  ago  the  Redeemer  laid  down  his  own 
person,  tried  and  true,  as  the  corner  stone  of  faith.  Before  his 
life  work  ended  he  had  added  but  the  single  tier  of  apostolic 
life;  day  by  day  has  progress  been  made;  every  generation  has 
built  in  its  share  of  "lively  stones;"  the  work  in  our  hands 
looks  as  yet  only  to  further  progress,  but  as  we  labor,  let  us 
keep  the  plan  of  the  Sacrifice  before  us  and  never  depart  from 
the  cross.  If  not  in  our  day,  at  some  time,  will  the  caj)stone 
be  brought  forth  with  "shoutings  of  grace,  grace,  unto  it,"  while 
choirs  above  and  choirs  below  will  join  the  ecstasy  of  praise. 


THE  BKioK  ciiruni. 


-TIIE- 


«^^«;  ,3^1^ 


Sermon  on  the  Sabbath l^rxEK  the  ^^^nniveks aky. 


T)V  The  Pasioij.    Ye^-r  d , -v^  »-»->  A   *t5,  'oc\n 


PSA1.M  45:10. — Instead  of  thy  fathers  shall  he  thy  children  rohom 
thou  may  est  make  princes  in  all  the  earth. 

Tlie  Jew  loved  to  tliink  of  the  past,  of  liis  noble  ancestors 
who  had  received  the  marked  favor  of  God,  of  Abraham,  Isaac 
and  Jacob,  of  Moses  and  Joshna,  and  in  later  days  of  David  and 
Holomon.  In  this  Psalm  the  Sacred  ]*oet  has  a  vision  of  i^rc^ater 
,i;lor.v  in  the  future  than  the  past  could  boast;  he  sees  a  Kinf>- 
whose  righteous  scepter  shall  hold  universal  and  everlastini*- 
sway.  This  Kinjj-  is  addressed  in  the  text  with  the  prediction 
that  his  des(;endants  shall  be  more  illustrious  than  his  ])rou;en- 
itors.  He,  in  his  human  nature,  descended  from  a  long  line  of 
Heroes  and  Kings  but  he  would  make  his  spiritual  seed  piinces 
not  of  a  single  nation,  but  in  all  the  earth. 

Tlje  really  great  and  good  men  are  yet  to  come.  The  si)irit 
of  the  text  is,  the  future  will  be  more  glorious  than  the  i)ast. 
In  this  spirit  let  us  gain  inspiration  from  the  past  we  have  just 
held  ill  review,  that  the  future  may  be  even  better. 

There  is  ii  dangerous  tendency  to  be  content  with  the  past, 
to  think  all  has  been  accomplished  that  can  be  or  need  be  done. 
This  finds  expression  in  the  common  saying,  "The  Son  of  a  great 
man  seldom  bcconu's  a  great  man."  Circumstances  do  not  call 
liis  natural  energies  into  exercise;  there  are  no  difhculties  and 
liardshi])S  in  his  lot,  such  as  his  father  struggled  with  and  grew 
strong  in  the  strugghv  lU'sidcs  he  may  be  content  Avith  the 
renown,  the  s(»cial  i»osition,  and  the  affluence  his  father  has 
won.  As  with  a  young  nnm,  so  with  a  nation.  If  she  looks 
l)ack  for  lier  great  nu'n  and  noble  deeds,  is  content  with  pres- 
ent prosperity,  and  has  no  ideals  in  the  future,  that  nation  is 
on  the  eve  of  a  decline.  So  with  a  Church.  If  our  Cliurch 
to-day  glorying  in  her  past  and  rejoicing  in  her  present  is  con- 
tent with  these,   the  future  will  only  need  to  write  liei-  epita])h. 


THE  SERMON.  55 


To  counteract  this  tendency  and  secure  the  reverse,  to  he 
fired  into  life  rather  than  chilled  into  death,  is  our  privilege. 
The  young-  man  may  say:  Let  my  life  be  worthy  of  such  a  great 
and  noble  father.  I  have  inherited  not  merely  his  possessions 
and  position,  these  are  of  comparatively  little  value.  I  have 
inherited  his  qualities  of  mind  and  heart.  I  will  show  I  am 
my  father's  son  by  my  character.  He  may  go  further  and  say: 
1  start  from  the  plain  my  father  won,  lifted  high  above  his 
starting  place.  Instruments  and  surroundings  of  education 
and  training-  such  as  he  did  not  possess  are  mine.  To  some  de- 
gree I  have  inherited  his  cultured  powers.  I  may  and  will  do 
a  grander  work,  win  a  nobler  i)osition  and  a  wider  fame,  be  a 
greater  man  than  my  father.  So  the  fathers  life  becomes  an 
incentive  to  a  still  nobler  life.  This  is  ambition  of  a  generous 
kind.  He  may  have  a  still  nobler  spirit.  I  have  inherited  tliis 
character  and  these  great  advantages  from  mj^  father.  They 
are  God's  gifts  to  me  through  him.  I  am  under  obligation  to 
God  to  use  them  to  their  full  extent  in  his  service.  There  is 
jnuch  to  be  done  for  the  good  of  mankind.  God  has  richly  en- 
dowed me  and  calls  me  to  the  work.  ]My  true  nobility  is  in 
serving  Him. 

If  our  Church  has  this  spirit  to  live  worthily  of  our  fathers, 
to  use  our  inheritance  for  still  nobler  deeds  and  grander  work, 
to  see  in  all  our  gifts  the  calls  of  God  to  His  service,  and  to  en- 
tirely consecrate  all  we  have  and  are  to  Him — then  however 
glorious  may  have  b^en  the  i)ast,  the  future  will  be  still  better. 

There  is  one  very  stimulating  lesson  we  may  learn  from  our 
fathers  and  those  who  with  them  settled  this  new  country.  They 
sought  freedom  from  oppression  and  a  home  for  themselves  and 
the  generations  to  follow  them.  They  were  men  of  faith,  they 
had  i>lans  and  hopes  for  the  future.  But  they  could  not  have 
foreseen  that  future  which  has  become  the  present  to  us.  This 
beautiful  valley,  fringed  witli  its  guardian  mountains,  a  garden 
of  peace  and  i^lenty.  The  comfortable  homes  dotting  the  land- 
scape; the  many  villa|:es  strung  upon  the  river  like  gems  upon 
a  silver  cord;  the  frequent  school  houses  with  their  gToups  of 
children;  the  many  churches  with  their  multitudes  of  worship- 


56  THE   BRICK   CHrKCII. 


ers.  Tliey  could  not  have  foreseen  tliis  grand  Eepublic,  com- 
posed of  many  prosperous  States,  stretcliing  across  a  continent, 
tlio  homo  of  millions  of  the  free,  the  admiration  of  the  world. 
They  did  not  know  where  unto  their  work  would  grow. 

There  is  the  same  hopeful  facinating  uncertainty  about  the 
future  to  us  to-day.  Our  fatheis  ]danted  the  seed,  we  are  cul- 
tivating the  sapling,  the  distant  future  alone  will  see  the  wide 
spreading  tree.  We  do  not  know  where  unto  our  work  will 
grow.  But  God  knows.  He  has  his  designs.  He  calls  us  to 
be  faithful  to  present  duty,  to  do  the  work  he  lays  to  our  hands 
as  our  fathers  did  theirs,  he  will  make  it  apart  of  the  grand 
result;  and  so  he  cultivates  our  faith.  Some  day  when  our 
minds  and  hearts  are  purified  from  the  dross  of  sin,  and  enlarg- 
ed and  ennobled  under  his  culture  he  will  show  us  his  bright 
designs,  reveal  to  us  his  glorious  puri)oses.  From  his  dealings 
in  the  past,  and  from  the  prophecies  we  are  able  to  read  we 
may  know,  even  now,  enough  to  thrill  our  souls  with  noble 
hopes.  Be  ours  the  true  nobility  of  being  in  harmony  with  the 
righteous  God,  of  faithfully  performing  present  duty  to  Him 
and  to  our  fellowmen. 

The  circumstances  of  our  lives  are  widely  different  from 
those  of  our  fathers,  and  in  these  changed  circumstances  we 
see  the  calls  of  God  to  our  work.  P^ach  church  is  no  longer 
merely  local  in  her  life  and  influence,  through  the  agencies  of 
our  liigh  civilization  she  sends  her  living  forces  through  the 
land,  even  through  the  world. 

Our  Nation  makes  many  calls  upon  us.  There  is  danger 
as  well  ;is  hope  in  our  great  material  prosperity.  Immense 
wealth  brings  power  to  selfish  ambition,  luxury  to  self-indulg- 
ence. There  is  danger  as  well  as  hope  in  the  energetic  char- 
acter of  the  i)e()i)le.  We  may  tolerate  i^etty  Avrongs  in  private 
and  political  affairs,  being  too  busy  and  too  good  natured  to 
right  them  and  so  tending  to  acquiesce  in  wrong  lose  moral 
tone  from  our  character.  There  is  danger  as  well  as  hope  in 
the  fact  that  tlu^  constituent  parts  of  our  Nation  are  the  strong 
races  of  Nortlunn  Europe.  The  vices  as  well  as  the  virtues  of 
such  races  are  strong.     Their  barbarism  was  a  terrible  thing,  as 


THE  SERMON.  57 


their  christian  civilization  is  a  noble  thing'.  Besides  the  em- 
igrants to-day  are  no  longer  the  choice  of  these  races  in  moral 
and  religious  character,  coming  solely  to  better  material  con- 
ditions, very  many  of  them  are  careless  of  religion,  and  some 
are  openly  infidel  and  immoral.  They  are  capable  of  being 
made  good  citizens,  capable  also  of  becoming  very  bad  citizens. 
The  need  of  our  [N'atiou  is  the  prevalence  of  moral  principle, 
righteousness  in  the  sight  of  God.  The  Church  is  needed  as 
well  as  the  school  house.  The  call  is  for  religious  influeuces 
and  training.  This  Church  has  for  years  used,  and  should  con- 
tinue to  use  the  Bible  Society,  the  American  Tract  Society,  our 
owu  Boards  of  Education  and  Domestic  Missions,  to  reach  with 
religious  influences  our  own  Nation  even  to  its  most  distant 
bounds. 

The  world  makes  many  calls  upon  us.  The  millions  of 
Asia  worsliiping  her  many  gods;  Europe  worshij)ing  the  true 
God,  but  in  many  sections  with  great  lack  of  knowledge;  Africa 
still  the  outcast  of  the  nations;  as  well  as  the  benighted  parts 
of  our  own  Continent,  all  call  upon  us,  and  the  glorious  future 
should  cheer  us,  to  put  forth  every  effort  that  all  tribes  and  na- 
tions may  hear  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation,  and  unite  with  us 
in  the  service  and  the  praise  of  our  God  and  His  Clirlst.  The 
race  is  bound  together  now  as  never  before.  The  Steamship, 
the  Telegraph,  the  Railroad,  the  Printing  Press,  are  demon- 
strating the  brotherhood  of  man.  We  are  citizens  not  merely 
of  this  locality,  but  of  the  world.  Our  fathers  led  a  restricted 
life,  they  heard  but  rarely  from  the  outside  world,  and  could 
influence  it  but  little.  Our  advantages  are  greater,  our  duties 
are  wider.  Happy  are  we  to  live  in  this  day  and  in  this  land. 
Married  to  our  privileges  are  our  responsibilities.  The  hum- 
blest of  us  may  know  more  to-day  of  science,  of  other  people 
and  lands,  of  history,  ancient  and  recent,  than  the  most  learned 
of  the  most  advanced  races  of  the  past;  and  he  may  have  more 
l)o\ver  too,  he  may  exert  a  wider  influence  through  the  agencies 
at  his  hand.  This  doltar  you  have  earned,  it  is  yours,  you  may 
spend  it  on  some  luxury  or  add  it  to  your  store  for  your  heirs; 
or  you  may  with  it,  if  you  choose,  send  an  educational  or  relig-. 


58  THE  BRICK  cnuKcn. 


ions  influence  to  the  end  of  the  Nation,  to  the  very  ends  of  the 
earth. 

After  all  the  main  influence  of  a  Church  as  of  an  individual 
must  be  at  home,  in  our  own  community.  And  the  Cliurcli 
should  touch  and  advance  every  interest  of  the  community. 

The  material  interests  are  to  be  fostered.  The  whole  com- 
munity should  be  more  industrious,  economical,  self-controllin*;- 
and  wise  in  the  use  of  iirosperity  from  the  influence  of  the 
Church  upon  it.  Of  course  the  poor  should  receive  the  best 
lieli)  christian  wisdom  and  love  can  devise. 

The  educational  interests  have  a  strong-  claim  upon  us. 
We  liave  good  school  houses — though  a  few  might  be  improved. 
We  should  have  in  tliem  all  the  best  teachers  good  wages  can 
obtain.  Better  deny  your  children  butter  upon  their  bread 
than  a  good  teacher  because  of  the  cost.  But  there  is  no  need 
of  such  denial,  it  is  simply  a  question  between  a  few  more  dol- 
lars left  to  your  children  when  you  die,  and  well  trained  and 
richly  stored  minds  secured  to  them  now.  The  old  Academy 
which  has  conferred  such  inestimable  beneflts  upon  this  whole 
community,  and  of  which  we  all  are  so  justly  proud,  still  aft'ords 
a  tine  oi>portunity  for  securing  a  liberal  education  for  our 
childien,  and  richly  deserves  our  patronage. 

The  Church  will  exert  a  powerful  influence  in  advancing 
the  moral  interests  of  the  community.  Her  life  will  ever  man- 
ifest itself  in  making  good  neighbors  and  good  citizens.  We 
should  never  be  indifl'ereut  to  our  local  or  national  politics; 
we  should  regard  our  voting  not  so  much  as  a  i)rivilege  or  a 
right  as  it  is  a  duty.  All  our  influence — unitedly — heartily — 
should  be  cast  against  every  vice,  for  every  reform,  for  every 
virtue. 

But  the  religious  interests  of  the  community  must  ever  lie 
nearest  tlie  heart  of  the  Church.  As  Michael  Angelo  said  to 
his  student  engaged  on  a  diminutive  picture:  "Make  your 
heavens  higher — your  distances  greater — your  views  wider." 
So  the  Cliurch  says  to  the  community  in  which  she  dwells: 
"Look  u]),  there  is  a  God  !  Honor  llim  !  Look  beyond,  there  is 
a  Heaven  of  holv  blessedness  !  Live  f<n'  Eternitv  !" 


THE  SERMON.  59 


The  Church  life  will  manifest  itself  in  every  household  in 
family  religion.  The  family  is  the  unit  upon  which  the  Church 
is  built.  The  children  are  to  be  instructed  in  the  religion  of 
Christ,  the  text  book  is  the  Bible,  the  place  is  at  the  mother's 
knee,  the  father's  side.  There  were  many  advantages  and  some 
disadvantages  about  the  old  method  of  Church  instruction  of 
the  cliildren  instituted  by  Dr.  Lee — the  neighborhood  catechet- 
ical and  Bible  classes.  There  are  many  advantages  and  some 
disadvantages  about  the  new  system  of  Sunday  Schools,  which 
change  of  times  and  customs  has  brought  about.  But  both 
systems  are  alike  dependent  u^ion  family  instruction.  The 
Church  can  only  direct  and  aid,  never  can  take  the  place  of 
the  father  and  the  mother  in  the  religious  instruction  of  the 
children.  Faithfulness  in  family  religion  will  make  the  future 
glorious.  As  in  the  past  and  in  the  present,  so  may  it  ever  be, 
whole  families  coming  up  to  the  public  worship  of  the  Lord 
in  His  sanctuary,  the  parents  with  their  children. 

All  these  calls  are  upon  each  individual  to  entire  personal 
consecration  to  Christ  in  His  Church.  Individuals  are  very 
apt  to  leave  to  the  general  company  the  carrying  on  of  the 
cause,  forgetting  that  the  company  is  made  up  of  themselves 
and  their  fellows.  The  Church  will  go  on,  they  say,  we  need 
not  exert  ourselves.  It  will  go  on,  because  all  are  not  of  that 
mind.  It  would  go  on  far  better  if  there  were  none  of  that 
mind. 

Let  us  then  rightly  value  our  j)ossessions  centered  in  this 
Church,  that  faithfully  cherishing  and  using  them,  the  Master 
may  call  each  one  of  us  at  last  His  "good  and  faithful  servant." 
The  value  of  anything  may  be  said  to  be  Avliat  it  has  cost.  The 
gold  dollar  has  cost  just  that  value  in  the  toil,  hardship  and 
danger  of  getting  it  from  the  mine.  So  your  acre  of  cultivated 
land  is  worth  the  cost  of  reclaiming  it  and  its  surroundings 
from  wildness.  What  is  the  value  of  our  Church?  It  has 
cost  the  hardships  and  dangers  our  fathers  endured  on  the  sea 
and  in  the  wilderness;  their  sufi'erings  and  heroic  struggle  for 
religious  freedom  in  Holland  and  Germany;  the  patient  faith 
that  lived  through  the  dark   ages;  the   labors  and  perils  of 


60  THE  BRICK  CHUKCn. 


Apostles  and  Martyrs  in  the  early  spread  of  Christianity.  What 
precious  value  there  is  treasured  in  our  CInircli  which  has  cost 
so  much.  ]\Iore,  far  more,  than  all  this  has  it  cost.  It  cost  the 
tears  and  groans  and  blood  of  our  Savior,  the  agony  in  the  gar- 
den, the  suifering  and  death  upon  the  cross  of  the  Son  of  God, 
our  Lord. 

Some  of  you  are  growing  old,  you  have  borne  the  burdens 
of  the  day  and  would  like  to  rest.  Is  there  nothing  remaining 
for  you  to  give  to  Christ  in  His  Church  ?  to  Him  who  has  done 
so  much  for  you  ?  You  have  much  the  young  have  not;  the 
wisdom  from  experience  and  ripened  piety,  to  counsel  and  guide ; 
the  gathered  influence  and  possessions  of  which  you  know  the 
value,  to  consecrate  to  Christ;  and  your  prayers,  prayers  for  the 
Church  you  love,  as  the  light  from  the  opening  Gates  falls  in 
benediction  upon  your  bowed  heads.  Is  there  anything  too 
precious  to  give  to  the  Christ  you  hope  so  soon  to  meet? 

Young  men  and  women,  what  have  you  to  give  to  your 
Savior  in  His  Church  ?  Much  the  aged  have  not,  the  hopeful 
enthusiastic  spirit  of  youth,  the  ardent  <levotion  of  young- 
hearts,  the  strong  energies  of  young  hands.  The  generous  im- 
l)ulses  of  your  y()uth  ten«ling  ii>  right  directions  will  become 
the  controlling  powers  of  your  manhood.  One  by  one  the 
fathers  pass  from  us.  God  calls  you  to  take  their  idaces  and 
carry  on  their  work.  What  a  glorious  life  you  nmy  lead,  as  the 
servants  of  Christ.  How  your  lives  may  abound  with  elevat- 
ing and  ennobling  influences  that  shall  tell  for  the  good  of 
your  fellow  men  in  time  and  in  eternity.  You  may  be  princes 
in  the  earth,  your  brows  not  crowned  with  anything  so  mean  as 
an  earthly  diadem,  but  with  heavenly  glories,  princes  not  of 
earthly  position  but  of  inward  character,^  true  ininces  in  the 
sight  of  (iod.  Then  your  whole  life  si)ent  in  the  service  of 
Christ  will  leave  on  earth  a  monument  of  inyi)erishable  worth, 
and  secure  to  you  before  the  Throne  the  glad  welcome,  "Well 
done,"  which  will  fill  your  eteriuil  fi,iture  with  glorious  blesvsed- 
ness. 


LIST  OF  MINISTERS    AND   PEW  HOLDERS. 


01 


IIIeMBKKS    who   AaVZ   fiNTEKEB   THE  miNISTKY. 


Daniel  Comfort,  .        .        .        . 

Jacob  0.  Sears, 

William  Younoblood,  (Missionary  to  Borneo,) 

Robert  Pitts, 

Alexander  C.  Millspaugh,    .        .        .        . 

Jacob  Bookstaver, 

Samuel  Bookstaver  Bell,     .        .        .        . 
Lawrence  L.  Comfort,        -        -        -        - 
Milton  B.  Comfort,  (Missionary  to  India,) 
A.  Augustus  Bookstaver,       .... 
Jesse  F.  Shafek, 


Ordained  in  1811 
1824 
1835 
1841 
1841 
1842 
1850 
1851 
1868- 
1870 
1878 


cL^s—ie-^^'^^S'^j^s 


AsT   or   few  ^K'OLDEKS. 


Asliby,  Robert 
Andrews,  Xeliemiali 
Asliton,  James  M. 
Bookstaver,  Abner 
Bookstaver,  Alan  son 
Bookstaver,  John 
Bookstaver,  Milton 
Blakley,  William  H. 
Bodine,  Adam  I. 
Bodine,  ]\[rs.  Elmer 
Bergen,  Henry 
Brown,  George 
Crist,  Mrs.  Lewis 
Carvey,  John 
Crans,  Albert 
Crans,  Alfred 
Comfort,  Samuel  A. 
Comfort,  Alonzo 


Comfort,  D.  H. 
Crawford,  J.  .7. 
Clum,  Albert 
Cox,  Oliver 
Decker,  William  P. 
Decker,  John  J. 
Decker,  James 
Decker,  Abner 
Decker,  Francis  C. 
Decker,  John 
Decker,  Joseph 
Dusenberry,  John  B. 
Gillespie,  Renwick 
Higby,  Mrs.  J.  L. 
Hasbronck,  W.  E. 
Johnston,  B.  B. 
Luquer,  Abraham 
Low,  Daniel 


62 


THE  BRICK  CHrECn. 


LaFonntiiiii,  Alex. 
Mould,  .loliii 
]\Ioul(l,  John  D. 
IVIould,  William  S. 
Mould,  Chiistoidier  P. 
Mould,  Joliu  I). 
:Mould,  Mrs.  C.  J. 
AFould,  Daniel 
Mould,  John  G. 
Mould,  ,losse  F. 
Miller,  John  G. 
McXeal,  William 
Millspauiii'h,   Raehael 
.MoiTison,  floiiathan  M. 
jAIowbray,   Ivaljdi  E. 
Mowbray,  Jiee  A. 
IVIcGarr,  James 
Newkirk,  Sarah  F. 
Xewkirk,  Henry  V. 
Pitts,  Mrs.  Geor^-e  A. 
Quackeubos,  N.  I. 
Ka])alje,  Stephen 
Kocdvafellow,  William 
lio(dval"ello\v,  Mrs.  Angeline 
Koat,  :\Irs.  Sarah 
Koat,  Mrs.  David 
Keeve,  J.  M. 
Itowe,  Matthew, 
Jtumi)h,  James  11. 
Kum]»h,  Isaac  0. 
Humph,  James  H. 
Kedeker,  John  S. 
liiley,  Fiaiicis  E. 
Sparks,  Charles  H. 
Sears,  Charles  A. 
Sears,  Samuel  S. 


Smith,  Miss  Hr.rriei:te 
Smith,  Zenas 
Smith,  James 
Smith,  Niel  T. 
Smith,  Edi^-ar 
Sears,  William  S. 
Sears,  1).  Smith 
Sears,  Charles 
Sears,  Theodore 
Sinsabauo-h,  Robert  P.  L. 
Sanns,  Samuel  X. 
Shaler,  Abuer 
Shafer,  John  S. 
Shafer,  John  D. 
Shafer,  Jacob  Y. 
Shafer,  Mrs.  John  D. 
Shafer,  Miss  Susan  A. 
Smiley,  Andrew  H. 
Sease,  Theron 
Sease,  John  H. 
Sease,  Henry 
Samuels,  Richard 
Tears,  George 
Van  Alst,  Charles  J. 
Van  Alst,  Ebenezer 
Van  Alst,  Daniel 
Vande water,  John 
Van  Kleeck,  James 
Van  Kleeck,  Levi  L. 
Wilkin,  Mrs.  Ann  M. 
Wilkin,  Joseph  M. 
Weller,  ]\Iiss  Effie 
Wintield,  Lester 
^^'ood,  ]\Irs.  Jonas 
Wallace,  A.  T. 
youngblood,  Jacob  B. 


ROLL    OF    MEMBERS. 


63 


^gOLL   or   ^EMBERS. 


Anderson,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Mould 

Andrews,  Mrs.  Sarah  Crist 

Andrews,   Mary 

Andrews,  Erastus  D. 

Archibald,    Jemima 

Asliby,   Robert 

Ashby,  Sarah  Maria 

Ashton,   James  M 

Ashton,    Mrs.  Elsie  Cox 

Bergen,    Henry 

Bartolf,   Mrs.  WiHempie 

13oice,    Judson  A. 

Boiee,    Mrs  Christina  Rump 

Blakley,    William  Hamilton 

Blakley,    Mrs.  Ellen  Hall 

Bodine,    Mrs.  Ann 

Bodine,  IMrs.  Malinda  Youngblood 

Bodine,  Adam  I. 

Bodine,    Sarah  Ann 

Bodine,   Mrs.  Louisa  Blake 

Bodine,  Warren 

Bodine,  Elizabeth 

Bodine,  Louisa 

Bookstaver,    Mrs.  Elizabeth  B. 

Bookstaver,    JMrs.  Nancy  Sears 

Bookstaver,    Alanson 

Bookstaver,   Mrs.  Mary  Barclay 

Bookstaver,    Daniel   Jr., 

Bookstaver,    Mrs.  Lavina  Corkey 

Bookstaver,    Milton 

Bookstaver,    Mrs.  Emily  Sease 

Bookstaver,  Lewis 

Bookstaver,   John  M. 

Bookstaver,  Mrs.  Emma  Vanderlyn 

Bookstaver,   Mrs.  Rachel  Sears 

Bookstaver,    Mrs.  Letty  Weller 

Bookstaver,    Mrs.  Anna  Mould 

Bookstaver,   William 

Bookstaver,    Agnes  B. 

Bookstaver,    Isabella  E. 

Bookstaver,   Adelia  % 

Bookstaver,  George  E.   . 

Bookstaver,   Mi"s.  Mary  Lawson 

Bookstaver,    Carrie 


Bookstaver,    John 

Bookstaver,    Mrs.  Pha'be  Lynch 

Bookstaver,    Phedora  M. 

Brooks,    Mrs.  Martha  Wait 

Brown,   Louis  T. 

Brown,    Mrs.  Delia  Mould 

Brown,    Mrs.  Rachel  Newkirk 

Barclay,    Nancy 

Bull,    Mrs.  Harriet  Low 

Barrert,    Carrie  IL 

Burnett,    Mrs.  Mary  Van  Alst 

Cameron,   Mrs.  Jane  Bodine 

Carvey,    Mrs.  Sophia 

Carvej ,    Daniel  C. 

Carvey,    Mrs.  Jane  Sears 

Chambers,    Mrs.  Maggie  Rhinehart 

Charlock,   Wilbur  F. 

Clayton,    Mrs.  Ellen  Mould 

Clearwater,  Mrs.  Catharine  Comfort 

Clum,   Albert 

Clum,    Mrs.  Mary  Hanmer 

Comfort,  Mrs.  Mary  Rockafellow 

Comfort,    Harvey  D. 

Comfort,   Mrs.  Mary  Shafer 

Comfort,    Samuel  Augustus 

Comfort,    Mrs.  Sarah  Youngblood 

Comfort,    Fannie  J. 

Comfort,   Alonzo 

Comfort,    Mrs.  Mary  Bookstaver 

Comfort,    Eve  Ann 

Comfort,  Andrew 

Comfort,   Mrs.  Rachel 

Comfort,   Reeve 

Comfort,   Mrs.  Clarissa  LaFountain 

Couch,    Mrs.  Elizabeth  Smith 

Copley,   Mrs.  Nancy  Crist 

Cleans,   Albert 

Crans,   Mrs.  Maria  Mould 

Crans,   Libbie  L. 

Crans,   Hermon 

Crans,   Mrs.  Ruth  Galloway 

Crans,    Mrs.  Mary  C. 

Crans,   John  C 

Crans,   Mrs.  Anna  Sanns 


64 


THE  BKICK  CHUECn. 


Crans,   Alfred 

Haines,   IVIrs.  Margaret  Low 

Crans,   Mi-s.  Mary  Einbler 

Hall,    Hannah  E. 

Crans,    Wickliain 

Hall.    Margaret'j. 

Crawford  Mrs.  Catharine  Bookstaver 

Ilulse,    Mrs.  Susan  Shafer 

Crawford,   Anjiustus 

Hulse,    Charlotte  A. 

Crawford,    Mary  I. 

Hunter,    Mrs.  Maria  Mould 

Crawford,   Mrs.  Sarah  Smiley 

Jackson,    Mrs.  Sarah 

Crawford,   Mrs.  M.  Emma  Sease 

Jennings,    Mrs.  Phoebe  Lay 

Crist,    ]\rrs.  Catharine  Millspangh 

Johnston,    Benjamin  B. 

Crist,    Mrs.  Melinda  Comfort 

Johnston,    Mrs.  Mary  E.  Waring 

Crist,    Mrs.  Annie  Comfort 

Johnston,    Minnie  L. 

Crist,    Ellen  E. 

Jewell,    Catharine 

Decker,    Mrs.  lliran) 

LaFountain,    Alexander 

Decker,    WiUiam  P. 

LaFountain,    Mrs.  Ann  Decker 

Decker,    Mrs.  Eliza  Bookstaver 

LaFountain,    Emeline 

Decker,    Mrs.  Maria  Dickerson 

LaFountain,    Mary  C. 

Decker,    Francis  C. 

LaFountain,    Caroline 

Decker,   James 

LaFountain,    Alexander  Jr., 

Decker,    Mary  P. 

Lare,   John  Theion 

Decker,  Mrs.  Rebecca  Rhinehart 

Lawson,    Elias 

Decker,   Mrs.  Mary  Sears 

Low,   Mrs.  Rachel  Dunning 

Decker,   Mrs.  Mary  Ella 

Low,    Daniel 

Decker,    Sarah  Francis 

Lupton,    Mrs.  Ellen  Clearwater 

Dusenberry,    Mrs.  Ruth  iSmiley 

Lupton,   Evelyn 

Du  sen  berry,   John  B. 

Lupton,    Alice 

Embler,    Mrs.  Maria  Ashby 

Madden,    Eliza 

Embler,    Ada 

Mapes,    Robert  M. 

Felter,   Sarah  Catharine 

Ma  pes,    Daniel  S. 

Forbes,   John 

Mtipes.    Mrs.  Ann  Crans 

Fowler,   Mrs.  Sarah  Shafer 

Meddler,   Jane 

Fritz,   John 

Mennen,    Hugh 

Fritz,   Mrs.  Ann  Selileyer 

Mennen,    Mrs.  Elizabeth 

Gillespie,    Ren  wick 

McGarr,   James 

(jillespie,    Mrs.  CaroUne  Snuth 

McGarr,    Mm.  Margaret  Kelly 

Gillespie.    William  II. 

McGarr,   John  K. 

Gillespie,    George 

McGarr,    Lizzie  .J/. 

Gunsolas,    Martha  Ann 

.Mc.Monagle,    William  A. 

llait;ht,    Ilattie  S.  E. 

.Mc.MonaLcle,    Mrs.  Adeline  Smiley 

Hammond,    Mrs.  Matilda  Crist 

McNeal,    William 

iianlon,    .Mrs.  Pho'be  Shafer 

.McNeai,    Mrs.  Sarah  Brown 

llasbrouck.    Wilhehnus  E. 

.Miller,    Mrs.  Mary  Rumph 

Ilashrouik  .Mrs  Mar-iaietVunlderstine 

.Miller,  Mrs.  Maria  Alexiinder 

llasbrouck,    Charles  D. 

Miller,    Margaret  J. 

lligby,    Mrs.  Sarah  Roat 

Miller,   Mrs.  Julia  Rockafellow 

lligby,    Robert  P.  L. 

Miller,    Mrs.  J.  W. 

lligby,    Mrs.  Harriet  Corwin 

Miller,    Mary 

Iligby,    Sarali  Francis 

Miller,    Charles  II. 

lligby,    Robert  Lee 

Miller,   Mrs.  Helen  Wallace 

llinoult,    Mrs.  Sarah  Williams 

Miller,   Frank 

llinouit,    Mis-  Lucilla  Bookstaver 

Millspaugh,   Josephine 

ROLL    OF 

MEMBERS.                                              65 

IMillppau^li,   Rachel 

Newkirk,   Mrs.  Eve  Shafer 

Millspaugh,    Mary  E. 

Newkirk,   Moses  N. 

Millspaugh,  Rachel  D. 

Newkirk,    Sarah  Francis 

Millspaugh,    Jane  B. 

Norris,    Fannie  K. 

Millspaiigh.    Mrs.  Sarah  Beattie 

Norris,    William  M. 

Morrison,    Jonathan  M. 

Norris.    Samuel  Gilbert 

Morrison,    Mrs.  Margaret  Winfield 

Ostrander,    Jacob 

Mould, 

Catharine 

Owen,    Mrs.  Lizzie  Millspaugh 

Mould, 

Mrs.  Mary 

Pierson,    Mrs.  Mary  Mould 

Mould, 

iNIrs.  Ehnira 

Pitts,    Emily 

Mould, 

Mrs.  Mary  Rowe 

Pitts,    Mrs.  Sarah  Dusenberry 

Mould, 

John 

Puff,    Charles 

Mould, 

Mrs.  Emily  Douglas 

Puff,    Esther  Cecelia 

Mould, 

Christopher  P. 

Puff,    Mrs.  Elizabeth  Mackinson 

Mould, 

^Ijs.  Sarah  Eager, 

Puff,    Mrs.  Jane  V. 

Mould, 

Mrs.  Martha  Bull 

Quackenbos,    John  M. 

Mould, 

Lemma 

Quackenbos,    Nicholas  I. 

Mould, 

Mrs.  Van  Voorhis 

Quackenbos,    Mrs.  Catharine  Mould 

Mould, 

Daniel 

Randolph,    Mrs.  Jennie  Bookstaver 

Mould. 

Jesse  F. 

Rapalje,    Mrs.  Leonora  Weller 

Mould, 

Mrs.  Helen  Vail 

Redeker,   John  V.  S. 

Mould, 

Mary 

Redeker,    Mrs.  Mary  Cronk 

Mould, 

William  S. 

Reeve,   J.  Mortimer 

Mould, 

Mrs.  Uannah  Conning 

Reeve,    Mis.  Fannie  L. 

Mould, 

Ida 

Reeve,    Charlotte  Y. 

Mould, 

John  C. 

Riley,    Francis  E. 

Mould, 

Mrs.  Sarah  Sherman 

Riley,    Mrs.  Mary  Bookstaver 

Mould, 

Catharine  Rowena 

Riley,    Elizabeth 

Mould, 

Sarah 

Richardson,    Mary 

Mould, 

Joseph  C. 

Rhinehart,    Mrs.  Effie  Alexander 

Mould, 

Mrs.  Anna  Wallace 

Rhinehart,    Mrs.  Sarah  Youngblood 

Mould, 

John  B. 

Roat,    Mrs.  Sarah  Zagger 

Mould, 

Mrs.  Emily  Youngblood, 

Roat,    Mrs.  Katie  Shorter 

Mould, 

John  D. 

Roat,   Sarah  P. 

Mould, 

Mrs.  Mary  Van  Alst 

Robinson,    Hancel 

Mould. 

Eh'zabeth 

Robinson,    Mrs.  Margaret 

Mould, 

Maria  Morrison 

Rockafellow,   Mrs.  Pricilla  Newldrk 

Mould, 

Mary 

Rockafellow,    Mrs.  Angehna  Weller 

Mould, 

Alice  T. 

Rockafellow,    Wickam 

Mould, 

Isaac  W. 

Rockafellow,    Sarah  E. 

Mould, 

JNlary  Anna 

Rockafellow,    Mrs.  Elizabeth  Ellis 

Mould, 

Mrs.  Louisa  Lawrence 

Rockafellow,    William 

Mould, 

:\Iilton  B. 

Rockafellow,    Mrs.  Mary  Smith 

Mould, 

Charles  Everett 

Rockafellow,    Mary  Emma 

Mowbray,   Ralph  E. 

Rogers,    Sarah  Ann 

Mowbr 

ay,   Mrs.  Sarah  Smiley 

Rowe,    Ellen 

Mowbray,   Agnes  E.           % 

Rowe,    Matthew 

Mowbray,   Mrs.  Clara  Sanns 

Rowe,    Mrs.  Eveline  Clineman 

Mowbr 

ay,    Mrs.  Matilda  Hawkins 

Rowe,   Thomas  C. 

Newkirk,    Mrs.  Catharine  Bodine 

Rowe,   Moses  B. 

66 


THE   BRICK  CHUKCH. 


Rowe,   Mi-s.  Estella  Campbell 

Itowe,   George 

Ruiiiph,    James  Russel 

Rumph,    INIrs.  Elizabeth  Martin 

Ruiiiijh,    Mrs.  (Jlarissa  Crans 

Ruuiph,   Marcus  E. 

Ruuiph,   Mrs.  Amanda  Sinsabaugh 

Kumph,    Jane  E. 

Rumph,    Sarah  E. 

Rumph,    James  Harvey 

Rumph,    Mrs.  Mary  Radfield 

Sammons,    Mrs.  Elizabeth  G. 

Sanns,   Samuel  N. 

Sanns,    George 

ScheiK'k,    Mrs.  Abigail  Vanderveer. 

Sc-henclt,    Mrs.  Ellie  llaring 

Bchlejer,  Mrs.  Catharine 

Hcott,    Mrs.  Caroline  Sehleyer 

Scott,    Ira 

Bears,    Mrs.  Elizabeth  Comfort 

Sears,    Mrs.  Elizabeth 

Sears,   Samuel  S. 

Sears,    Mrs.  Melissa  Van  Keuren 

Sears,   Theodore 

Sears,    Mrs.  Harriet  Sherman 

Sears,    William  Sewall 

Seal's,    Daniel  Smith 

Sears,    Mrs.  Harriet  Bookstaver 

Sears,    Samuel  B. 

Sears,   Annie  C. 

Sears,   Charles  A. 

Sease,    Henry 

Sease,    Emeline 

Sease,   J.  Theron 

Sease,   Hattie  A. 

Sease,    Mrs.  Helen  Stone 

Sebring,    Mrs.  Julia 

Senior,    .Mrs.  Lucinda  Sears 

Shafer,    Mrs.  llarzilah  Bookstaver 

Shafer,    Ann 

Sliafer,    .larub  V. 

Shafer,    .Mrs.  Hilah  Hhike 

Shafer,    Susan  A. 

Shafer,    Mary  (Catharine 

Sliafer,    Mrs.  Eiiiily  Sliafer 

Shafer,    .Mrs.  Ph(i>be  Comfort 

Shafer,    Mrs.  Maria  Comfort 

Sliafer,    John  1). 

Shafer,    Adeline 

Shafer,    Daniel  1. 

Sliafer,    Mary  E. 

Shafer,   Abner 

Shafer,   Mrs.  Cliarlotte  Morris 


Shafer,   Anna 
Shafer,   Julia 
Shafer,    Joseph  M. 
Shafer,    John 
Sinsabaugh,    Sally  Ann 
Sinsabaugh,    Robert  P.  L. 
Sinsabaugh,    Mrs.  E.  Vanderlyn 
Sinsabaugh,    Eliza 
Smiley,    Andrew  H. 
Smiley,   Mrs.  Catharine  Comfort 
Smith,    Mrs.  Jane  E.  Bookstaver 
Smith,    Mrs.  Susan  Linebergh 
Smith,    Mrs.  Lida  Rapalje 
Smith,   Zenas 
Smith,    Maria 
Smith,    Harriet 
Suydam,    Mrs.  Anna  Van  Alst 
Tears,    George 
Townsend,    William 
Van  Alst,    Ebenezer, 
Van  Alst,    Mrs.  Eve  .Mould 
Van  Alst.    Daniel 
Van  Alst,    Mrs.  Adelade  Miller, 
Van  Alst,    Charles  J. 
Van  Alst,    Mrs.  Harriet  Deiker 
Van  Alst.    Ella 
Van  Alst,    George 

V^anderlyn,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Newkirk 
Vance,    Alexander  M. 
Vance,    Mrs.  Elizabeth  Karney 
Van  Voorhis,    Mrs.  Catharine  Hart 
Walker,    Mrs.  Mary  Crans 
Wallace,    Andrew  T. 
Wallace,    Mrs.  Hannah  Knapp 
Weller,    Elizabeth 
Weller,    Marv  Elizabeth 
Weller,    Mrs."  Elizabeth  Newkirk 
Weller,    Effie  Ann 
Weller,    Harvey 
Weller,   William  J. 
Wilkin,   Mrs.  Ann  Maria Millspaugh 
Wilkin,    Mrs.  Catharine  Copley 
I  Wilson,    Eliza  Jane 
;  Win  field,   J^ester 
Winlield,    Mrs.  Mary  Johnston 
Wood,    .Mrs.  Mary  Bookstaver 
I  Wood,    Charles  S. 
Wood,    Mary  Friiucis 
Wright,   Mrs.  Augustus  Sears 
Young,    Mrs. 

Voungblood,    Mrs.  Sarah  Dickerson 
Youngblood,    Mrs.  Martha  Bush 
Voungblood,   Jacob  B. 


DATE  DUE 

M^      r 

^^mmmmak 

*t»^ 

Demco.  Inc  38-293 


BX9517.5.IV17G3A3 

The  celebration  of  the  one  hundred  and 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00042  6660 


